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TECHNOCRACY 

FIRST,  SECOND 

AND 

THIRD  SERIES 


Social  Universals 


By  William  Henry  Smyth 


FIRST  SERIES 

Human  Instincts  in  Reconstruction: 
An  Analysis  of  Urges  and  Suggestions  for  Their  Direction 

National  Industrial  Management: 
Practical  Suggestions  for  National  Reconstruction 

Ways  and  Means 
To  Gain  Industrial  Democracy 

Skill  Economics 
For  Industrial  Democracy 


SECOND  SERIES 

Magic  Money,  Money  Magic  and  the  Magician: 
The  Payers  and — the  Fading  Smile 

The  Method  of  Solving  Problems  Generally 
And  Our  Social  Problem  in  Particular 

A  Working  Method  for  a  Workable  Understanding 
Of  the  Social  Problem  and  of  a  Workable  Reconstruction 

Labor,  Skill,  Tally,  Organization  and  Their  Functions: 
Production,  Distribution,  Direction 


THIRD  SERIES 

Animal-man  and  Man-animal: 
A  Working  Understanding  of  Man  the  Social  Unit 

Old  Irascible  Strong  and  Trixie  Cunning 
Their  Sons  and  Modern  Society 

Parasitism  and  Personality: 
Conflicting  Drifts  in  the  Evolution  of  Society 

The  World's  Great  Crisis: 
Emergence  of  Social  Self-Consciousness 


Social  Universals 


..    Copyright,  J521,  bp  W_  ;H;  Smyth. 


WHAT  IS  THE  MEANING  OF  THE  SOCIAL  UNREST 
WHAT  IS  THE  NATURE  OF  ITS  ENERGIZING  FORCE 
IS  THERE  AN   INTELLIGIBLE  PRINCIPLE  BEHIND   IT 
WHAT  IS  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PRINCIPLE 
WHITHER  IS  THE  WORLD  WIDE  MOVEMENT  TENDING 

I  wonder     .     . 


FOREWORD. 

I  have  read  "Technocracy"  with  very  great  in- 
terest. 1  have  been  reaching  the  conclusion  (hir- 
ing the  last  year  especially  that  engineers  and 
technical  men  hold  a  peculiarly  strategic  position 
in  the-  whole  industrial  structure  of  modern  soci- 
ety ;  and  on  this  account,  as  well  as  for  the 
substance  of  it,  "Technocracy"  makes  a  special 
appeal  to  me. 

Views  of  more  or  less  similar  import  appear 
to  be  coming  from  a  considerable  range  of  tech- 
nical men.  All  of  this  seems  to  indicate  a 
fairly  well-defined  rebelliousness  of  practicing  me- 
chanics and  engineers  against  the  mechanistic 
philosophy  of  life.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
seemingly  the  strongest,  most  persistent  uphold- 
ers of  the  mechanistic  philosophy  are  men  who 
are  not  mechanics  or  mechanists  at  all  in  the 
practical  sense. 

WM.  E.  RITTER. 

[William  Emerson  Ritter,  Ph.  D..  is  the  eminent 
scientist  and  philosophical  thinker  who  is  Director  of 
the  Scripps  Institution  for  Biological  Research;  Pro- 
fessor of  zoology  in  the  University  of  California; 
President  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science  (Pacific  Branch);  founder  of  "Science 
Service,"  and  author  of  "War,  Science  and  Civilization"; 
"I  he  Higher  Usefulness  of  Science";  "The  Prohahle 
Infinity  of  Nature  and  Life";  "The  Unity  of  the  Or- 
ganism"; "An  Organismal  Theory  of  Consciousness"; 
etc. — Editor.] 


Reprinted  from   the   Gazette,   Berkeley,   California 
Copyright,  1920,  1921,  by  W.  H.  Smyth, 


Technocracy 


PART  I. 

Human  Instincts  in  Reconstruction. 
An  Analysis  of  Urges  and  a  Suggestion  For  Their  Direction. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

Note — The  author  shows  that  the  forces  of  the  four  great  human 
instincts — to  live,  to  make,  to  take,  to  control — are  as  essential  in  mod- 
ern social  life  as  at  any  time  in  the  past.  But  all  of  these  urges  in  a 
living  democracy  should  be  controlled  without  being  controlled.  To 
achieve  this  seeming  paradox  we  must  have  a  great  national  purpose,  and 
unselfish  leadership  such  as  could  come  through  a  National  Council 
of  Scientists. 

Mr.  William  Henry  Smyth  has  been  in  general  practice  as  a  con- 
sulting engineer  since  1879.  He  is  the  inventor  of  many  machines  and 
mechanical  devices,  including  a  system  of  raising  water  by  direct 
explosion  on  its  surface,  the  device  being  known  as  the  "direct  explo- 
sion pump."  He  has  been  an  engineering  expert  in  many  patent  cases, 
and  is  a  frequent  contributor  to  technical  journals.  As  well  as  a  pioneer 
in  mechanics,  Mr.  Smyth  is  a  pioneer  in  economics.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  leading  scholarly  associations  in  that  field,  including  the  Amer- 
ican Economic  Association  and  the  Royal  Economic  Society  of  Great 
Britain. 

(Parts  I,  II  and  III  appeared  originally  in  "Industrial  Management" 
of  New  York.)— Editor. 


to 

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». 
c 


Instincts  Control. 

Instincts  are  the  most  persistent 
human  urge  factors.  Seemingly, 
they  are  less  subject  to  change  than 
even  the  most  unchanging  aspects 
of     our     physical     environment. 

The  Instinct  to  Live  (self-preser- 
vation) is  as  dominating  today  as 
in  the  days  of  our  cave-man  an- 
cestors; the  Instinct  to  Construct 
is  as  persistent  in  Man  as  in  the 
beaver;  the  Mastery  Instinct  (desire 
to  control  others)  is  as  vital  as 
ever;  the  Thievish  Instinct  (desire 
to  acquire  and  hoard)  shows  no 
change,  and  is  the  same  old  urge 
as  that  disclosed  by  the  pre-man 
stores  of  insects,  birds  and  various 
animals. 

Indeed,  without  these  primordial 
urges  Man  could  not  have  developed, 
and  the  loss  or  atrophy  of  any  one 
of    them    would    probably    mean    the 


rapid  extinction  of  the  race.  Thus  it 
would  seem  that  our  fundamental 
instincts  are  essentially  necessary  to 
human  continuance — at  least,  to  our 
social  existence.  So  let  us  look 
once  more  at  these  vital  factors,  in 
the  light  of  recent  events,  in  order 
to  see  what  part  they  now  take  and 
are  likely  to  play  in  our  future  social 
economy. 

Brute    Force. 

No  lesson  of  the  war,  probably,  is 
more  obvious  or  more  clearly  de- 
fined than  the  rapid  trend  toward 
Skill  as  a  predominating  and  con- 
trolling factor  in  our  immediate  so- 
cial   development. 

Recorded  history  and  archaeologic- 
al investigation  confirm  the  sugges- 
tion that  in  the  matter  of  economic 
control  of  human  activities  and  their 
products,  the  possession  of  this  con- 
trol   has    oscillated   to    and   fro    under 


217980 


TECHNOCRACY 


the  influence  of  one  or  other  of  the 
instinctive  urges,  so  that  character- 
istic types  of  men  secured  alternate 
mastery. 

Starting  in  the  pre-human  period, 
before  the  dawn  of  definite  self-con- 
sciousness, and  continuing  during 
eons  in  the  twilight  of  human  intelli- 
gence, raw  brute  force  must  have 
been  the  dominating  economic  factor. 

The  influence  of  Skill  during  this 
period  was  practically  negligible,  ex- 
cept in  so  far  as  it  affected  indi- 
viduals. Of  this  the  huge  prolonga- 
tion of  the  unchanging  "Stone  Age" 
is    sufficient    demonstration. 

Contest  With  Cunning. 

The  gradual  growth  and  rapid 
culmination  of  the  Skill  factor  is 
an  important  consideration  in  our 
present  inquiry  and  likewise  in  our 
Social  Reconstruction  problems.  For 
while  Purposive  Skill  is  of  slow  de- 
velopment Purposive  Cunning,  on  the 
contrary,  is  inherently  otherwise. 
Indeed,  Cunning  and  Purposiveness 
both  imply  mental  alertness  and 
hence  are  in  some  Wise  synon- 
ymous. 

For  these  reasons,  in  the  early 
stages  of  human  development,  raw 
strength  and  animal  cunning  must 
alone  have  contended  to  satisfy  the 
other  instinctive  urges — to  live,  to 
control — practically  uninfluenced  by 
the  relatively  modern  urge  of  Pur- 
poseful    Skill. 

Doubtless  this  simple  conflict  (of 
raw  strength  and  brute  cunning) 
waged  with  varying  results,  slowly 
oscillating,  age  by  age  and  race  by 
race,  in  favor  of  one  or  other  human 
type  as  environmental  conditions  or 
racial  admixtures  gave  one  or  other 
the    advantage    of    circumstance. 

And,  as  Economics  implies:  the 
usages,  laws,  and  institutions  where- 
by a  community  endeavors  to  or- 
ganize its  methods  and  means  of 
living:  those  whose  activities  char- 
acterize the  times  initiate  and  ad- 
minister   its    economics. 

Age-Long   See-Saw. 

So,  with  these  age-long  oscilla- 
tions of  control  types,  economic  in- 
stitutions necessarily  underwent  like 
changes,  conforming  to  the  dom- 
inating   human    characteristics   of   each 


Age  and  Nation.  That  they  did  so 
oscillate  and  economically  conform, 
in  the  vaguest  dawn  of  human  be- 
ginnings, is  the  teaching  of  archae- 
ology. 

During  the  past  few  thousand  years 
the  contest  of  Strength  and  Cun- 
ning is  shown  by  reliable  historical 
records  to  have  oscillated  with  com- 
parative rapidity  between  one  and 
the  other  extreme — including  consid- 
erable periods  during  which  Strength 
and  Cunning  unified  control  by 
union  of  Church  and  State. 

Prior  to  the  immediate  present  was 
a  transition  stage  caused  by  the 
gradual  weakening  of  the  bond  be- 
tween Church  and  State,  with  a 
coincidental  shifting  of  control  in 
favor  of  Cunning  (under  a  changed 
and  relatively  modern  guise  repre- 
senting the  instinctive  Urge  to 
Take)  expressing  itself  as  Commer- 
cialism. With  this  change  came  a 
consequent  modification  of  usages, 
laws,  and  institutions  appropriate  to 
its  highest  expression — Capitalism — 
capitalistic  economics.  The  result  of 
this  last  oscillation  of  control  in 
favor  of  (acquisitive)  Cunning  was 
that  Germany  became  a  nation  of 
slaves,  England  a  nation  of  paupers, 
France  quit  breeding,  and  the  United 
States    went    wealth    crazy! 

Challenge   by    Purposive    Skill. 

The  war  represents  the  conclusive 
termination  (in  this  period)  of  the 
age-long  contest  of  Force  and  Cun- 
ning— for  the  control  of  men,  and 
the    products    of   their   activity. 

But  this  last  and  most  spectacular 
conflict  is  complicated  by  the  intru- 
sion of  the  most  modern  and  most 
rapidly  developing  factor — Organized 
Purposive    Skill. 

Here,  then,  Skill  enters  the  arena 
with  a  challenge  to  both  earlier  con- 
testants— for  the  prize  of  human 
control,  and  mastery  of  the  social 
machinery;  enters  that  contest — older 
than  the  race  itself — the  struggle  to 
satisfy  the  primordial  instincts:  to 
Live — to  Control — to  Take. 

Strength  vs.  Cunning  vs.   Skill. 
Thus     the    contest    has    become     a 
triangular    fight    between    the    Strong, 
the   Cunning,   and   the   Skilful;   a   fight 


TECHNOCRACY 


in  which  raw  brute  force  is  a  par- 
ticipant of  rapidly  diminishing  im- 
portance— a  modified  continuation  of 
the  old  time  bloody  contest,  for  a 
humanly    undesirable    outcome. 

Cunning-control  is  today  the  vic- 
tor, and  in  possession  of  the  spoils — 
the  financial  wealth  of  the  world. 
But  all  the  evidence  points  to  a 
short  enjoyment  and  a  losing  fight 
against  the  organized  forces  of  Pur- 
poseful Skill. 

Creaking   Capitalism    Cracking. 

Capitalism — under  war  stress — 
shows  convincing  evidence  of  in- 
adequacy. The  non-effectiveness  of 
money  and  credit  wealth  has  be- 
come so  obvious  as  to  procure  the 
enactment  of  "Work  or  Fight"  laws. 
Thus,  into  the  discard  went  our  pre- 
war money  evaluation  of  men  to  be 
substituted  by  a  standard  which 
measures  millionaire  and  hobo  alike 
in  accordance  with  their  relative 
skill. 

Our  pre-war  faith  in  the  mysteri- 
ous Magic  of  Money  too  received  a 
staggering  shock  when  all  the  pri- 
vate fortunes  enmassed  and  all  the 
billions  of  national  credit  combined 
utterly  failed  to  add  a  single  pound 
of  much  needed  sugar  to  our  limited 
supply,  necessitating  the  "two  pounds 
of  sugar  per  person"  apportionment 
— a  commonplace  vulgar  fraction 
measure  applicable  to  Financial 
Potentate    and   Weary   Willie — alike! 

Producer  Versus  Parasite. 

On  broader  lines  also  the  evidence 
points  the  same  way:  purposive  skill  is 
inherently  productive,  while  purpose- 
ful cunning  is  naturally  parasitic. 
Then,  the  capability  of  cunning  to 
rule,  and  the  continuance  of  its  suc- 
cess in  controlling  others,  resides  in 
and  depends  upon  the  stupidity  and  il- 
literacy of  the  governed:  mystery  and 
magic  are  its  weapons — equally  in  the 
realm  of  modern  Finance  as  in  the 
ancient  Theocracies. 

Skill  implies  the  reverse  of  all  this, 
for  skill  is  intelligence  physically 
manifested.  It  is  knowledge  of  Na- 
ture's Laws  utilized  dexterously — and 
the  spread  of  scientific  information 
characterizes  our  age.  Thus  as  the 
bulwarks   of  cunning-control   crumble, 


the  weapons  of  skill  are  multiplied  and 
perfected. 

So  the  outcome  seems  a  foregone 
conclusion. 

With  this  outcome,  our  methods 
of  life  will  necessarily  change.  Capi- 
talistic customs,  laws,  and  institutions 
will  be  substituted  by  others  differing 
as  widely  from  those  with  which  we 
are  familiar  as  the  motor  ideas  and 
ideals  of  purposeful  cunning  differ 
from  those  of  purposeful  skill. 

"Work  or  Fight"  Lesson. 

Peradventure,  the  "Work  or  Fight" 
and  the  "2  pounds  of  sugar  per  per- 
son" measures  are  tonic  foretastes  of 
the  coming  Skill-Economics. 

Obviously  we  are  in  transition  to  a 
new  social  order. 

The  signs  of  the  times  portend  the 
dethroning  of  decadent  acquisitive 
capitalism  and  the  crowning  of  pro- 
ductive skill—Autocrat  of  the  new 
Age — Artizanism. 

This  change  has  been  in  dubious 
process  for  years;  the  War  has  merely 
speeded  its  progress  and  made  the 
outcome  practically  inevitable.  But, 
whether  it  be  brought  about  by  evolu- 
tion or  revolution,  or  whether  it  comes 
in  clean-cut  aspect  or  befogged  by  ir- 
relevant social  factors  and  forces,  it 
is  in  no  sense  a  rational  or  final  so- 
lution of  our  "social  problem." 

In  any  event,  should  Artizanism 
come,  it  will  be  merely  another  social 
spasm,  probably  shorter  than,  but 
equally  as  futile  as,  our  present  world- 
wide finance  madness. 

Instincts  Not  A  Rational  Basis. 

While  it  is  conceivable  that  human  , 
societies  could  be  organized  upon  and 
with  any  one  of  the  stated  basic  In- 
stincts as  dominant  factor  and 
raison  d'etre;  it  is  practically  certain 
that  any  such  national  society  would 
be  quite  ineffective,  and  transient.  For 
obviously  it  would  not  and  could  not 
satisfy  even  our  present  limited  intel- 
ligence, our  rational  imagination,  or 
our  modern  spiritual  ideals. 

No  very  extended  analysis  would  be 
required  to  show  the  validity  of  this 
proposition.  The  past  has  already 
demonstrated  the  insufficiency  of  so- 
stinct — Autocracy.  The  present  amply 
cieti'es    based    upon    the    Mastery    In- 


TECHNOCRACY 


proves  the  failure  of  the  Acquisitive 
Instinct  as  a  social  basis — Plutocracy. 
A  moment's  thought  will  show  that 
a  society  based  upon  the  Making  In- 
stinct would  simply  crumble  in  its 
formative  process  under  the  demands 
of  our  complicated  modern  mental 
make-up,  for  clearly  this  instinct  pro- 
vides inadequate  Human  scope — and 
hence  presupposes  parasitism  in  even 
more  extended  form  than  that  of  ac- 
quisitive Capitalism.  And  —  worse 
than  all — a  society  based  upon  the  In- 
stinct to  Live  and  Propagate,  would 
return  us  at  once  to  the  brute  state 
from  which  we  have  arisen  through 
ages  of  struggle,  strife,  and  bloodshed. 

Control  Without  Control. 

Still,  it  is  apparent  that  the  basic 
instincts  which  urge  "to  live,"  "to 
make,"  "to  take,"  "to  control,"  are  as 
useful,  yes,  are  as  essential  in  and  to 
modern  social  life  as  they  have  been 
in  all  the  past.  But,  while  all  are 
necessary,  no  one  of  them  constitutes 
a  proper  basis — law  of  operation — for 
a  rational  human  society  organization. 
They  are  factors,  necessary  and  desir- 
able contributary  parts,  no  one  of 
which  is  inherently  adapted  to  func- 
tion as  the  machine's  unifier,  its  strain 
and  speed  equalizer — its  control  ele- 
ment. 

Thus,  the  determination  of  a  suit- 
able character  of  "control"  element  is 
seemingly  the  crux  of  our  social  prob- 
lem; the  problem  of  controlling  with- 
out control,  that  old,  old  paradox: 
Freedom  made  effective  by  restraint — 
a  paradox,  however,  which  the  war 
.  may  have  resolved  for  us,  by  demon- 
strating its   non-existence. 

It  has,  in  somewise,  answered  our 
troublous  question  by  clear  definition 
in  the  statement  of  the  Nation's  ob- 
ject in  going  to  war. 

The  war  has  answered  the  question, 
in  another  aspect,  by  the  Nation's 
adoption  of  the  method  (forced  upon 
it  by  logical  compulsion)  whereby 
success  was  achieved. 

"To  make  the  World  safe  for  De- 
mocracy" is  the  clearest  and  most  uni- 
versally accepted  statement  of  our 
purpose  in  going  to  war — Self-govern- 
ment for  Nations,  Self-government  for 
Individuals. 


Concept   of   Control. 

Control  by  others,  then,  is  antitheti- 
cal to  the  ideals  for  which  we  have 
waged  this  last,  the  greatest,  and, 
it  is  hoped,  the  final  bloody  contest  for 
Self-government. 

Control  is  equally  antithetical  to  our 
[deals  of  Self-government  whether  the 
control  is  exercised  by  "others"  char- 
acterized by  the  Instinct  to  live  and 
breed — the  Masses;  or  whether  the 
control  is  exercised  by  "others"  char- 
acterized by  the  Instinct  to  Make — 
the  Skilled  Artizan;  or  whether  the 
control  is  exercised  by  "others"  urged 
by  the  Instinct  of  Mastery — the  Em- 
ployers; or  whether  the  control  is  ex- 
ercised by  "others"  under  their  domi- 
nating  Acquisitive  Instinct  —  the 
Financiers. 

Indeed,  the  concept:  control  by 
"others,"  is  an  idea  inherent  in  and 
appropriate  only  to  now  discredited 
Autocracy — a  concept  which  the  War 
has  rendered  an  obsolete  ideal — if  we 
are  yet  intelligent  enough  to  profit 
by  its  costly  teaching. 

Discard  Cave-Man  Control. 

To  be  rationally  consistent  this 
"control"  concept  should  be  as  ab- 
sent as  it  is  obsolete  (in  fact  and 
effect)  in  our  inevitable  reconstruc- 
tion. 

This  Autocracy  "control"  concept 
must  be  thrown  in  the  discard  where 
we  have  dumped  the  European  auto- 
crats whose  ideal  it  was — if  our  recon- 
struction efforts  are  intended  to  pro- 
duce a  rationally  organized  Modern 
Human  Society;  a  Society  founded  up- 
on the  Ideals  consecrated  by  the  life 
blood  of  our  bravest  and  best. 

But  our  age-long  familiarity  with 
"control  by  others,"  in  our  halting 
progress,  from  brute  beast  to  modern 
Man,  has  so  deeply  ingrained  in  our 
mental  fiber  this  stone-age  concept  as 
to  make  it  almost  impossible  for  us 
to  even  conceive  the  idea  of  a  society 
lacking  this  cave-man  spiked-club 
element. 

Yet,  no  fact  and  lesson  of  our  par- 
ticipation in  the  War  is  more  clear 
and  free  from  doubt  than  the  spon- 
taneous acquiescence  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States — rich  and  poor,  arti- 
zan and  laborer,  alike — in  self-control,' 
self-repression,    self-dedication   to   the 


TECHNOCRACY 


united  will  and  unified  purpose  of  the 
Nation. 

Purpose. 

No  lesson  of  the  War  is  more 
significant  than:  Given  a  National 
Purpose,  intelligently  comprehended 
and  acquiesced  in — only  unselfish 
Leadership  is  needed,  and  neither 
control  by  force  nor  control  by 
cunning  is  necessary  to  bring  about 
the  unification  of  effort  needed  to 
accomplish     the     Nation's     Objective. 

The  significance  of  this  lesson  is 
the  utter  irrationality  of  national 
control  in  the  hands  of  any  class 
characterized  by  self-centered  in- 
stincts, or  that  strength  or  skill  or 
cunning  should  be  dominating  fac- 
tors   in    the    social    structure. 

Though  none  of  these  factors 
should  dominate,  each  and  all  of 
these  vital  and  necessary  elements 
should  have  free  scope  for  the  so- 
cially effective  outflow  of  its 
particular    expression    of    life    energy. 

Second  only  in  significance  to  the 
acquiescence  and  co-operation  of  the 
united  people  is  the  method  irre- 
sistibly forced  upon  the  Nation  by 
the  logic  and  necessities  of  its  stu- 
pendous   War    problem. 

First    Real    Nation. 

This  most  modern  economic  in- 
stitution, and  the  unified  co-opera- 
tion of  the  united  people,  are  the 
two  outstanding  lessons  of  the  War 
for   us. 

Taken  together,  they  point  sig- 
nificantly to  the  solution  of  our 
social  problem — the  lacking  element 
which  should  and  could  consciously, 
deliberately,  and  rationally  unify  the 
basic  instinctive  urges  into  an  har- 
monious direction  of  national  effort 
and  so  produce  a  humanly  efficient 
national  organization — the  first  real 
Nation    on    earth! 

The  lacking  element? — the  element 
which  is  adapted  to  assume  the  func- 
tion and  position  to  be  vacated  by 
the  obsolescent  autocratic  concept — 
arbitrary  "control" — the  element  ca- 
pable of  controlling  without  con- 
trol, of  making  Freedom  effective, 
Democracy  a  living  fact  as  well  as 
a    noble    Ideal! 

In    this,    as    in    many    other    seem- 


ingly difficult  problems  of  long 
standing,  the  solution  has  evaded  us 
by  reason  of  its  very  obviousness. 
Such  a  unifying  factor  has  always 
existed  in  plain  view — unutilized  in 
its  proper  function  of  Social  Strain 
Equalizer.  Indeed,  this  urge  factor, 
more  even  than  the  Instincts — "to 
Live,"  "to  Make,"  "to  Take,"  "to 
Control" — is  the  most  universal  and 
most  humanly  characterizing  trait  of 
that    most    marvelous    complex — Man. 

Desire    to    Know. 

I  refer  to  Curiosity — curiosity  ra- 
tionalized   into    Desire    to    Know. 

Desire  to  Know,  while  equally 
urgent  for  gratification,  inherently 
lacks  the  undesirable  and  inappro- 
priate qualities  which  render  the 
other  human  Instincts  unsuitable  as 
organizing  and  strain  equalizing  fac- 
tors in  the  social  structure.  Also  it 
possesses  qualities  and  attributes 
which  make  it  peculiarly  adapted  to 
perform  the  rationally  harmonizing 
function  so  irrationally  assumed  in 
all  earlier  social  organizations  under 
the  guise  of  Forceful  and  Cunning 
Control. 

Desire  to  Know  is  as  imperative 
in  its  demands  as  any  of  the  self- 
centered  motor  Instincts — to  live,  to 
make,  to  take,  to  control — but  it  is 
impersonal;  while  it  is  as  aggressive 
as  other  Instinctive  Urges,  charac- 
teristically its  energies  and  activities 
are  directed  at  Nature,  not  in  ag- 
gression on  human  opponents;  hence 
it  engenders  no  human  strife;  and 
while  it  drives  furiously,  it  drives 
none  but  its  possessor — in  the  pur- 
suit   of    Knowledge. 

Desire  to  Know,  while  profoundly 
interested  in  all  that  pertains  to 
Human  Life  and  living — to  eugenics 
and  racial  development — character- 
istically its  possessor  would  risk  his 
own  life  in  the  pursuit  of  Knowledge. 

Desire  to  Know,  though  urgently 
interested  in  Nature's  Laws  and  in 
all  that  concerns  the  correct  making 
and  constructing  of  things,  charac- 
teristically lacks  desire  to  make  or 
construct  things,  but  seeks  only  sys- 
tematized   concepts    of    Knowledge. 

Desire  to  Know,  while  deeply  in- 
terested in  all  that  pertains  to  the 
desirable  things   of  the  world  and  to 


TECHNOCRACY 


economic  affairs,  characteristically 
lacks  the  thievish  impulse — the  In- 
stinct to  Take,  to  acquire  _  physical 
possession:  supremely  acquisitive  it 
craves   only  to   acquire   Knowledge. 

Desire  to  Know,  while  surpass- 
ingly Masterful,  desires  no  mastery 
of  Men;  it  craves  instead,  God-like 
insight,  pre-vision,  prophecy—power 
in  the  boundless  realms  of  Knowl- 
edge. 

Leadership. 

Here  then  is  an  indomitable  Urge 
lacking  all  the  inappropriate  qualities 
of  the  strife  producing  Autocratic 
Force-and-Fear  Control  motor  con- 
cept of  Social  Organization,  and 
possessed  of  all  the  unifying  quali- 
ties of   Social   Leadership. 

A  Human  Society  or  Nation  is 
sanely  designed  and  rationally  or- 
ganized on  correct  principles  only 
when  it  has  a  Purpose,  and  (as  in 
the  case  of  a  well  considered  ma- 
chine) only  when  full  cognizance  is 
taken  of  all  its  contributory  elements, 
together  with  their  essential  func- 
tions  and   their   proper   co-ordination. 

A   National    Objective. 

A  truly  efficient  National  Organi- 
zation would  facilitate  (not  suppress 
or  prohibit)  the  expression  of  all 
inherent  Instinctive  Urges,  rational- 
izing their  outflowing  life  energy 
(by  sane  institutional  conventions) 
into  unification  in  a  fully  pre- 
determined    National     Purpose. 

In  a  crude  but  clearly  perceptible 
manner  the  United  States,  during  the 


War,  gave  suggestion  of  such  an 
Ideal    Social    Arrangement. 

It  had  a  defined  and  universally 
accepted    purpose: 

Its  Scientific  (Desire  to  Know) 
Men  and  its  Scientific  Societies  were 
(more  or  less)  organized  into  a  Uni- 
fying and  Advisory  Board  to  formu- 
late and  suggest  methods  and  means 
for  sane  living  and — to  accomplish 
the  predetermined  purpose  of  the  Na- 
tion. 

We  have  accomplished  the  object 
of   the  WTar: 

We  have  made  the  World  safe  for 
Democracy. 

Now,  let  us  inaugurate  a  Demo- 
cracy— a  Democracy  with  an  object 
for  its  existence — a  Democracy  with 
a   Purpose. 

By  the  peril  to  its  life,  the  Nation 
has  been  shocked  into  momentary 
sanity.  Let  us  while  still  rational, 
rationally  take  to  heart  the  lessons 
which  the  War  has  taught  at  so 
staggering  a  cost: 

First:  The  need  of  a  National 
Purpose;  a  purpose  based  upon  peace 
and  rational  Human  Development; 
a  purpose  as  inspiring  and  as  unify- 
ing as  War  for  Democracy,  and  as 
high    as    our    highest    Ideals    of    Life. 

Second:  The  need  of  a  Supreme 
National  Council  of  Scientists — 
supreme  over  all  other  National  In- 
stitutions— to  advise  and  instruct  us 
how  best  to  Live,  and  how  most  effi- 
ciently to  realize  our  Individual  and 
our    National   Purpose    and    Ideals. 

But,  First  and  Last,  a  unifying  Na- 
tional   Objective. 


Fernwald,  Berkeley,  December,  1918. 


IS  WEALTH  MORE  PRECIOUS  THAN    HUMAN    PERSONALITY? 
IS   IT   RATIONAL  TO   BASE   HUMAN   SOCIETY 
ON   ANIMAL  INSTINCTS? 


Technocracy 


PART  II. 

National  Industrial  Management. 

Practical  Suggestions  for  National  Reconstruction. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

NOTE: — After  outlining  and  characterizing  the  great  economic  drifts 
in  the  national  developments  of  the  past,  the  author  declares  that  during 
the  period  of  war  the  United  States  has  developed  the  new  form  in  gov- 
ernment for  which  there  is  no  precedent  in  human  experience.  He  calls 
this  "Technocracy" — the  organizing,  co-ordinating  and  directing  through 
industrial  management  on  a  nation-wide  scale  of  the  scientific  knowledge 
and  practical  skill  of  all  the  people  who  could  contribute  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  great  national  purpose.  Carry  this  new  form  of  government  into 
the  days  of  peace  and  we  will  have  industrial  democracy — a  new  common- 
wealth.— Editor. 


Economic  Drifts. 

The  United  States  is  obviously  in 
social  flux,  in  unstable  economic  equili- 
brium— in  transition.  Customs  and 
usages  which  a  few  years  ago  received 
universal  approval  and  legal  sanction 
are  now  punished  as  crimes.  Eco- 
nomic expedients  which  but  yester- 
day were  deemed  irrational  imagina- 
tions of  Utopian  visionaries  are  today 
accomplished  facts.  And  in  every  di- 
rection immemorial  methods  and  time 
honored  social  processes  have  lost 
their  sacrosanctily. 

Like  ocean  streams  enfolding  in 
mass-flow  all  this  whirling  confusion 
of  economic  cross-currents,  legal  revo- 
lutions, and  social  agitations,  there  are 
to  be  observed  certain  super-control- 
ling drifts. 

Centralization   of   Government. 

Concentration  of  Wealth. 

Unification  of  Mechanical  Industries. 

Force,  Wealth,  Industry. 
These  great  economic  drifts  indi- 
cate the  mass  resultant  of  myriad  in- 
dividual activities  expressing  that  pe- 
culiarly human  quality  which  has  made 
man  the  dominating  animal  factor  on 
earth — unquenchable  desire  to  con- 
trol— the  Mastery  Instinct.  And  what 
is  more  important  in  the  present  con- 
nection, these  super-controlling  social 
drifts  also  indicate  the  only  directions 
possible  for  the  social  expression  of 
this  indomitable  human  urge: 


Direct  control  of  men  by  force  and 
fear — exemplified  in  Centralization  of 
Government;  indirect  control  of  men 
by  controlling  their  products — shown 
in  Concentration  of  Wealth;  mutual- 
ized  control  (i.  e.,  utilization)  of  Na- 
ture— expressed  in  Unification  of  Me- 
chanistic  Industries. 

Conflicting  Ideals. 

In  these  various  forms  of  social  ag- 
gregations there  are,  broadly  speak- 
ing,  but  three   human   types  involved: 

The  type  characterized  by  aggres- 
sive physical  strength;  the  type  char- 
acterized by  alert  mental  cunning;  the 
type   characterized  by   purposive   skill. 

Of  these  the  last — the  purposive 
skill  type — is  significantly  modern, 
brought  into  social  prominence  by 
that  most  stupendous  social  factor, 
experimental  science,  science  which  is 
the  effective  cause  and  basis  of  this 
era  of  invention — our  industrial  age. 

A  triangular  conflict  of  ideals  of  life 
and  of  social  purpose  has  thus  been 
inaugurated;  a  conflict  which  ac- 
counts for  and  is  expressed  in 
our  "social  unrest,"  "conflict  of 
capital  and  labor,"  our  "social 
problem"  and  "reconstruction."  The 
strife  for  supremacy  of  social  ideal 
and  community  purpose  thus  indicat- 
ed, is  co-extensive  with  the  human 
race;  its  most  spectacular  climax  is 
the  World  War.  And  notwithstand- 
ing the  many  confusing  forms  and 
many-sided  aspects  which   this  world- 


TECHNOCRACY 


wide  human  struggle  presents,  it  is, 
of  course,  at  bottom  the  ages  old  con- 
test of  Slavery  and  Liberty,  Bondage 
and  Freedom. 

The  Golden  Age? 

Our  answer  to  this  old  but  ever  new 
problem  will  determine  whether  our 
industrial  age  will  progress  to  a  so- 
cial condition  of  individual  freedom  to 
which  nothing  in  the  past  is  compar- 
able, or  whether  our  time  shall  be,  to 
future  generations,  the  Golden  Age! — 
the  highwater  mark  of  human  liberty 
— the  age  of  a  noble  but  a  futile  fight 
for  a  great  ideal — Democracy. 

Club  Economics. 

In  simple  cave-man  times  the  boss- 
parent,  quite  naturally,  made  and  ad- 
miaistcred  suitable  primitive  eco- 
nomics— with  his  persuasive  club  as  a 
very  practical  emblem  of  authority. 
Under  this  raw-force  regime  the 
weaker  "fagged"  for  the  stronger;  and 
the  doings  and  havings  of  the  "fags" 
made  life  more  likeable  for  the  force- 
ful. 

As  the  procreator  of  his  subjects — 
and  superior  in  strength  during  most 
of  their  lives — the  "ownership"  of 
them  and  theirs  by  the  boss-parent 
was  as  "natural"  as  any  other  obvious 
fact;  and  chattel  slavery  as  necessary 
as  parent  ownership  is  self-evident. 

Mystery   Economics. 

Then,  Miracle-Fire-Maker  and  Ani- 
mal Breeder  came  along,  and  dis- 
turbed many  of  the  time  honored  and 
well  established  customs — playing 
havoc  generally  with  club-economics. 
By  his  wonder  working  magics  cun- 
ning Miracle-worker  put  the  fear  of 
gods  (more  potent  than  physical 
strength)  into  the  heart  of  simple  old 
skull-cracker  parent-god.  So  Miracle- 
worker  waxed  fat,  and  in  his  turn 
initiated  and  administered  suitable 
economics — fire  worship  and  mystery- 
economics,  otherwise  Theocracy. 

With  theocracy  came  the  greatest 
of  all  social  revolutions;  the  dethron- 
ing of  brute  strength  and  the  crown- 
ing of  mental  alertness — Cunning. 
This  marked  an  epoch  in  human  his- 
tory, in  man's  upward  progress  as 
a  social  animal.  Also  it  marked  the 
beginning  of  control  of  men  (and  their 
products)     through     man's     instinctive 


fear  of  the  unknown — the  Rule  of  the 
Cunning. 

Force-Mystery-Economics. 
With  varying  fortunes  force-eco- 
nomics and  cunning-economics  con- 
tended for  supremacy  till  in  compara- 
tively modern  times  autocracy  was 
found  an  effective  compromise.  In  this 
most  practical  arrangement,  the  (by 
that  time  conventionalized)  parent- 
god  received  his  authority  from  the 
All-powerful  God-of-Magic.  So  was 
initiated  modernized  force-mystery- 
economics.  And  the  human  race  has 
as  yet  found  no  more  efficient  means 
for  the  control  of  organized  society 
than  force-mystery-economics;  meth- 
ods, means,  and  institutions  which,  but 
superficially  modified  since  old  Miracle 
worker's  day,  still  function  in  our 
twentieth  century  (autocratic  and 
democratic)  customs,  usages,  conven- 
tions, and  legalized  economic  systems. 

Working-by-proxy-Economics. 

In  cave-man  economics,  the  real 
function  of  the  club  or  the  purpose 
of  Club-er  was  not  to  incapacitate 
Club-ee,  but  to  induce  the  latter  to  do 
and  supply  the  matters  and  things 
which  otherwise  would  require  greater 
and  more  constant  expenditure  of  ef- 
fort on  the  part  of  the  economist,  than 
the  semi-occasional  swing  of  his  skull- 
cracker. 

Old  Skull-cracker's  motives  (though 
more  crudely  expressed)  were  the 
same  as  mine  are,  in  the  employment 
of  my  cook  and  my  gardener,  that  is 
economy  of  effort  on  my  part;  other- 
wise working-by-proxy. 

But  the  club-economic-system  was 
essentially  wasteful  and  inefficient;  its 
operating  expenses  were  outrageously 
high,  notwithstanding  the  low  cost  of 
raw  (human)  material.  Indeed,  the 
system  was  apt  to  defeat  its  own  ends, 
especially  in  those  strenuous  days, 
when  zeal  commonly  outran  discre- 
tion. 

Doers  and  Suppliers. 

Thus  mystery-coercion  represents 
an  enormous  economic  advance  over 
raw  physical  force.  Fear  of  unknown 
but  awesome  consequences  for  failure 
to  do  and  supply  matters  and  things  is 
fully  as  effective  as  the  club — and  be- 


TECHNOCRACY 


yond  measure  less  wasteful  of  Doers 
and  Suppliers. 

So  it  is  quite  natural  and  inevitable 
that  crude  force  methods  and  pro- 
cesses of  economic  control  should 
lose  favor  in  competition  with  mystery 
economic  systems.  And  long  race  ex- 
perience has  proved  that  a  judicious 
combination  of  club  and  mystery 
(otherwise  force  and  cunning)  makes 
for  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency  in 
a  Working-by-Proxy  economic  sys- 
tem. 

Proxy-Beneficiaries. 

Such  economic  systems,  however, 
obviously  imply  direct  or  indirect 
slavery — ownership  of  the  body  or 
control  of  the  mind  of  the  proxy.  And 
for  the  latter  the  mystery  method  is 
peculiarly  adapted  and  most  satisfac- 
tory. 

For  self-evident  reasons,  control 
over  another's  mind  is  more  effective 
and  economical  than  property  owner- 
ship of  his  body,  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  practical  responsibility 
which  the  latter  entails.  So  quite  na- 
turally, direct  ownership  of  Proxy  by 
the  economical  Worker-by-proxy  gives 
place  to  customs,  usages,  and  conven- 
tions (economics),  facilitating  control 
over   the  results  of   Proxy's   activities. 

Then,  too,  complex  division  of  labor 
and  specialization  render  chattel  slav- 
ery impractical,  indeed  unworkable,  in 
a  society  highly  organized  for  pro- 
ductive industry.  So  an  ideal  work- 
ing-by-proxy economic  system  would 
permit  complete  physical  liberty  to  do 
and  to  make,  while  arranging  appro- 
priate usages,  customs,  and  laws  which 
automatically  transfer  ownership  of 
the  matters  and  things  done  and  made, 
from  the  doers  and  makers  to  the 
proxy-beneficiaries. 

Economic  Science? 
The  difference  between  modern  and 
primordial  economics  is  not  in  idea  or 
purpose,  but  only  in  added  obscurity 
of  method  and  in  greater  complexity 
of  detail.  Incidentally,  also,  it  has  be- 
come evident  that  "economics"  is  not 
a  "science"  in  any  proper  sense,  but 
a  variable  system  of  community  us- 
ages intended  to  facilitate  the  pre- 
dominating social  activities.  And, 
hence,  to  be  workable  an  "economic 
system"  must  be  in   keeping  with   the 


activities  which  characterize  the  times. 
In  cave-man  times,  the  boss-parent 
and  his  club-men  had  to  make  cave- 
economics.  A  system  initiated  by  the 
"fags"  would  have  been  obviously  un- 
workable. The  priesthood  had  to 
initiate  and  administer  theocratic  eco- 
nomics. And  so  on,  through  the 
various  changes  in  social  organization: 
Those  whose  activities  characterize 
the  times  must  initiate  and  administer 
its  economics. 

Economic  Experiments. 

Raw  force  has  been  relegated  to 
the  economic  backwoods — to  the 
racially  infantile  tribes  of  darkest 
Africa,  and  to  the  social  usages  of 
our  anachronistic  "criminal  elements," 
the  yegg,  the  thug,  the  gun-fighter, 
the  strong-arm  gangs  of  the  under- 
world of  modern   organized  society. 

Theocracy,  with  its  crude  cunning, 
its  childish  terrors  and  its  dazzling 
promises  of  future  (super-mundane) 
rewards,  has  practically  vanished  as  a 
recognized  dominant  social  factor — a 
fading  shadow  of  ancient  greatness. 

Autocracy,  that  cunning  combination 
of  force  and  fear  economics,  has  just 
now  been  dumped  into  the  scrap-heap 
of  out-worn  social  expedients,  at  the 
cost  of  the  most  atrocious  and  blood- 
iest of  all  wars,  and  the  flower  of  the 
World's    Manhood. 

Plutocracy,  with  its  autocratic  capi- 
talistic economics  (while  weakened 
and  shaken  by  the  shocks  and  stresses 
of  the  World  War)  is  still  a  virile 
contestant  for  the  throne  of  World 
Dominion. 

Strength,  Skill,  Cunning. 

Economics  efficient  for  autocracy 
must  necessarily  differ  from  eco- 
nomics appropriate  to  theocracy;  and 
these  would  differ  from  economics 
suitable  for  plutocracy;  and  these 
again  would  differ  still  more  from 
economics  appropriate  to  and  efficient 
for  Industrial  Democracy.  In  brief: 
Force-economics,  Cunning-economics, 
and  Skill-economics  must  necessarily 
differ  as  widely  as  the  essential  dif- 
ferences between  the  basic  qualities, 
Strength,    Cunning,    Skill. 

Hence  any  attempt  to  organize  or 
"re-construct"  a  social  aggregation 
with  these  three  basic  human  traits 
as      contemporary      economic      bases 


10 


TECHNOCRACY 


means  sir.^ly  continual  social  warfare; 
a  war  which,  sooner  or  later,  must  be 
decided  by  victory  for  the  Strong,  the 
Cunning,  or  the  Skilled — unless  human 
ingenuity  can  devise  a  form  of  society 
which  will  permit  and  facilitate  the 
full,  unified,  and  socially  useful  expres- 
sion of  these  three  irrepressible  forms 
of  life  energy.   -^. 

Mechanized  Industry. 

Thus  we  return  to  the  three  great 
social   drifts: 

Centralization  of   Government; 

Concentration   of  Wealth; 

Unification  of  Mechanistic  Indus- 
tries.. 

Of  the  first  two  little  need  be  said, 
for  they  are  familiar  racial  experi- 
ences. But  the  last — the  mechanizing 
of  life — is  quite  otherwise;  hence  it  is, 
if  for  no  other  reason,  the  most  sig- 
nificant factor  to  be  taken  into  account 
in  the  social  problems  with  which  we 
are  now  confronted — our  problem  of 
economic  reconstruction. 

And,  truly,  our  modern  mechaniza- 
tion of  human  life  is  a  most  dubious 
social  experiment — a  danger-fraught 
development — a  dynamitic  racial  ad- 
venture. 

Modern  Science. 

Back  of  the  mechanizing  of  human 
functioning  is  that  greatest  of  all  mod- 
ern  marvels — experimental  science. 

Science  has  brought  about  a  pro- 
found revolution  in  our  mental  atti- 
tude toward  life,  and  in  our  methods 
of  dealing  with  nature.  It  has  swept 
into  the  discard  practically  all  our  pre- 
vious notions  regarding  ourselves  and 
our  relations  to  the  laws  of  nature — 
to  Universal  Reality.  It  has,  at  the 
same  time,  debased  man's  pride  in  the 


dust  of  humility,  and  glorified  intelli- 
gence and  human  worth  to  God-like 
heights. 

Science  is,  of  course,  the  effective 
cause  of  our  present  mechanistic  de- 
velopment— with  all  its  physical  bene- 
fits and  all  its  spiritual  horrors;  for 
science  knows  neither  morals  nor  eth- 
ics, and  is  equally  potent  for  social 
"bad"    as    for    social    "good." 

Science  works  just  as  effectively  in 
criminal  hands  as  in  thos,^  of  a  saint. 
It  is  an  impersonal,  ethically  neutral 
force  and  factor  so  potent  that — even 
in  the  chaotic  condition  in  which  it 
now  exists — it  has  brought  about  a 
world  revolution  in  man's  mental  out- 
look and  his  physical  activities,  both 
individually  and  collectively.  Indeed 
it  has  shown  to  man  a  new  Heaven, 
a    new    Earth,    and    a    new    Hell. 

Our  social  Heaven  we  have  yet  to 
construct,  but  the  World  War  is  suf- 
ficiently impressive  proof  of  what 
social  Hell  can  be  wrought  by  Science 
in  the  hands  of  self-interest. 

Past  and  Present. 

As  the  result  of  modern  science, 
the  present  time  is  without  precedent, 
hence  no  valid  analogy  exists  or  can 
be  imagined  between  an  economic 
system  appropriate  to  our  science- 
taught  mechanistic  age  and  earlier 
economic  systems  suitable  to  condi- 
tions of  iife,  the  warp,  woof,  and  pat- 
tern of  which  were  Mystery,  Magic, 
Chance. 

That  no  helpful  comparison  can  be 
made  between  the  past  and  the  pres- 
ent would  be  completely  true,  were 
it  not  that  our  science  teachings  affect 
but  the  thinnest  superficial  layer  of 
our     conscious     thinking,     while      the 


There  is  a  serenity,  a  long  view  on  the  part  of  science,  which  seems 
to  be  of  no  age,  but  to  carry  human  thought  along  from  generation  to 
generation,  freed  from  the  elements  of  passion.  Every  just  mind  must 
condemn  those  who  so  debase  the  studies  of  men  in  science  as  to 
use  them  against  humanity  and,  therefore,  it  is  part  of  your  task  and  of 
ours  to  reclaim  science  from  this  disgrace,  to  show  that  she  is  devoted  to 
the  advancement  and  interest  in  humanity  and  not  to  its  embarrass- 
ment and  destruction.  The  spirit  of  science  is  a  spirit  of  seeking  after 
truth  so  far  as  the  truth  is  ready  to  be  applied  to  human  circum- 
stances. 

From  President  Wilson's  address  before  the  Academy  of  Lincei  in 
Rome. 


TECHNOCRACY 


11 


fabric  of  our  thought  processes,  our 
familiar  customs,  our  current  usages, 
our  economic  institutions  remain  prac- 
tically unchanged — our  racial  heritage. 
But,  even  so,  the  unceasing  con- 
flict of  past  and  present,  of  slavery 
and  freedom,  of  bondage  and  liberty, 
of  error  and  truth.,  goes  ever  on  and 
on — a  blood  soaked  path;  a  path  of 
misery,  strife  and  disappointment, 
though  hopefully  ever  upward  toward 
our  ideal — Industrial  Democracy  with 
personal   freedom   for   Self-realization. 

Mental  Inertia. 
Without  a  concurrent  change  of 
economic  institutions  appropriate  to 
the  amazingly  rapid  psychical  devel- 
opment and  refinement  of  our  modern 
ideals — brought  about  by  the  advent* 
of  science — the  realization  of  these 
ideals  will  be  impossible.  And  sorrow- 
fully we  recognize  that  man's  instinc- 
tive resistance  to  change  of  eld  estab- 
lished modes  of  thought— howsoever 
irrational — makes  progress  in  this  di- 
rection  seem   almost   hopeless. 

Familiar  Fallacies. 

Most  reluctantly  are  familiar  fal- 
lacies relinquished,  indeed,  we  hang 
on  to  them  with  irrational  tenacity 
ages  after  their  unworkable  character 
has  time  and  again  been  tragically 
demonstrated. 

As  in  our  bodily  functions  and  skele- 
tal frame  there  still  persist  the  char- 
acteristics of  our  Saurian  primordial 
ancestry,  so  ancient  modes  of  thought 
live  unnoted  in  our  present  day  think- 
ing processes;  and  our  social  institu- 
tions represent  the  seemingly  out- 
grown superstitions  constituting 
man's  mental  heredity  during  every 
past  age  since  the  infancy  of  the 
human  race. 

"Gott  mit  uns." 

Medievalism  characterizes  our  sa- 
cred and  secular  institutions  and 
energizes  our  customary  actions. 
Demonology  is  practically  as  prev- 
alent as  in  the  past;  unnoted  in 
ourselves  but  easily  perceived  in  the 
"Gott  mit  uns"  attitude  of  the 
Kaiser. 

We  pray  for  health,  heedless  of 
nature's  laws;  we  pray  for  long  life 
while  disregarding  the  simple  rules 
of    right    living;    we    beseech    forgive- 


ness of  "sin"  while  making  sin 
profitable  by  deliberate  legal  enact- 
ment. In  a  world  filled  to  over- 
flowing with  all  good  and  humanly 
desirable  things  to  be  had  for  the 
striving,  we  economically  steal  from 
our  industrious  neighbors;  like 
paupers  we  beg  "God"  for  vicari- 
ously earned  joys,  for  unearned 
prosperity,  and  for  all  other  forms  of 
undeserved  "good  fortune;"  and  like 
pert  children  we  urge  silly  advice 
on  our  man-made  Providence,  for 
the  conduct  of  common  human  af- 
faiis,  which  we  are  too  lazy,  too 
stupid,  too  self-indulgent  to  bring  to 
desired    outcome    by    our    own    effort. 

The  God  of  Chance. 

Important  departments  of  life  and 
the  distribution  of  the  products  of 
industry — trade,  speculation,  oppor- 
tunity, recreation — involve  large  ele- 
ments of  "luck,"  for  by  grotesquely 
solemn  "laws"  the  issues  are  left 
to  the  "God  of  Chance."  Just  pre- 
cisely as  in  the  old  days  when  mo- 
mentous matters  were  settled  by  the 
entrails  of  sacrificial  animals. 

The  killing  of  President  McKinle^ 
by  a  madman  "caused"  the  depre- 
ciation in  the  value  of  stocks  to  the 
extent  of  thousands  of  millions  of 
dollars;  the  San  Francisco  calamity 
— which  rendered  half  a  million  hu- 
man beings  homeless — "made"  for- 
tunes for  the  owners  of  and  specu- 
lators in  suburban  property;  the 
Titanic  disaster  threw  a  hundred 
millions  of  wealth  (others'  products) 
into  the  hands  of  a  school-boy,  and 
with  it  control  over  the  lives  ol 
thousands  of  human  beings;  and  even 
the  supreme  tragedy  of  a  World 
at  War  is  the  prolific  "cause"  of 
transforming  hundreds  of  mediocre 
men  into  multi-millionaires — and 
hence    into    powerful     social     factors 

Diabolism. 

All  this  represents  kindergarten 
thinking,  primitive  and  childish  _  as 
nursery  prattle  of  prixies  and  fairies, 
Aladin's  lamp,  and  all  the  other 
forms  of  Old  World  superstition  and 
diabolism,  worthy  only  of  the  in- 
fancy of  the  race. 

Were  it  not  that  these  grotes- 
queries     characterize     our     "economic 


12 


TECHNOCRACY 


and  finance  system"  and  our  solemn 
Professors  soberly  teach  them,  they 
would  be  utterly  incredible  in  this 
Age    of    Science    and    Mechanics. 

But,  as  already  indicated,  our  "eco- 
nomics and  finance"  are  merely  sur- 
vivals from  pre-science  times;  an  in- 
heritance from  the  days  of  wizardry 
and    witchcraft,    mystery    and    magic. 

Our  quaint  "economics"  and  queer 
"finance"  are  as  anachronistic,  as 
inconsistent,  and  as  ineffective  in  this 
Mechanical  Age  of  Industrialism,  as 
astrology  would  be  in  an  astrono- 
mical observatory,  alchemy  in  a 
chemical  laboratory  or  "perpetual  mo- 
tion" in  a  machine  shop. 

Scientific    Foresight. 

Imagination  based  on  science  en- 
ables us  to  foresee  the  oak  in  the 
acorn — coming  events  latent  in  pres- 
ent happenings.  But  so  strong  is 
custom,  so  firm  is  the  grip  of  the 
past,  so  compelling  is  the  obses- 
sion of  ancient  superstitions,  that — 
with  all  our  lately  acquired  capa- 
bility for  rational  scientific  thinking 
— only  the  tragedy  of  the  accom- 
plished fact  has  sufficient  power  to 
jolt  our  sluggard  wits  into  momen- 
tary activity. 

Ten,  fifteen,  yes,  twenty-five  years 
ago,  it  required  no  more  intelligence 
to  foresee  the  present  war  than  to 
anticipate  a  crop  in  the  Fall  from 
seed  sown  in  the  Spring. 

Even  less  scientific  imagination  is 
now  needed  to  foretell  a  condition 
of  social  disintegration,  one  more  wide- 
spread and  disastrous  than  the  War, 
as  the  logical  and  inevitable  outcome 
of  our  irrational  and  antiquated  so- 
cial conventions — our  "economic  and 
financial  system." 

Taking  Instinct. 

If  taking — by  force  or  diverting  by 
cunning,  in  whole  or  in  part — the 
product  of  another's  effort,  without 
adequate  equitable  return,  be  accept- 
ed as  a  valid  social  principle  of 
action  between  individuals,  it  must 
be  equally  good  and  proper  as  be- 
tween social  groups,  as  between  na- 
tions. 

But  however  disguised  in  smooth 
sounding  phrases — the  "chances  of 
business,"  the  "profits  of  trade," 
the    "opportunity    of    others'     misfor- 


tune," the  "prize  of  the  victor,"  the 
"fortunes  of  war,"  the  "right  of 
might" — taking  expresses  the  par- 
asitic and  predatory  instincts.  And, 
called  by  whatsoever  name  or  how- 
soever disguised,  taking  others'  mak- 
ings by  force,  or  diverting  others' 
products  by  stealthy  cunning,  inevit- 
ably involves  unending  strife;  strife 
within  the  group  and  recurring  wars 
of  nations — strife  to  settle  the  rela- 
tive strength  or  cunning  as  between 
individuals,  and  wars  to  determine 
the   relative    might   of   nations. 

Predatory  Economics. 

Our  "economic  system"  is  essen- 
tially autocratic  in  means,  in  method, 
in  objective.  Being  a  left-over  from 
an  Age  of  Predatory  Autocracy, 
necessarily  its  ideals  are  materialis- 
tic— its  motor  instinct  and  urge  im- 
pulse being  self-centered  "greed  and 
grab."  Naturally  its  means  are  force 
and  cunning  and  its  methods  are 
ruthless,  for  its  object  is  power — 
power,    irresponsible    and    absolute. 

Our   Modern    Ideals. 

If  we  are  to  remain  true  to  our 
ideals — ideals  which  the  flame  of  war 
has  illumined  to  our  normally  pur- 
blind spiritual  insight — our  course 
is  determined.  We  have  no  choice 
but  to  choose  freedom:  pioneer  a 
virgin  trail,  slash  a  course  unblazed 
by  history,  uncharted  in  race  experi- 
ence— a  courage  testing  National  Ad- 
venture. 

The  race  has  never  before  been 
confronted  with  a  situation  in  any 
way  analogous  to  the  one  in  which 
we  now  find  ourselves,  nor  a  prob- 
lem the  like  of  that  which  we  are 
now  compelled  to  solve;  yes,  and 
solve  correctly,  if  we  would  avoid 
distintegration  into  social  chaos — 
overwhelmed  by  a  science-made 
Frankenstein. 

Science  Is  Dynamitic! 

Science  has,  however,  put  into  our 
hands  an  instrumentality  of  such 
immeasurable  potency,  that,  used 
with  intelligent  courage,  we  may  con- 
quer all  our  difficulties,  surmount  all 
our  social  obstructions. 

But,  Science  left  to  chance,  or  in 
the  hands  of  unintelligent  self-interest, 


TECHNOCRACY 


13 


the  chances  are  it  will  work  untold 
social  calamity. 

There  are  so  many  roads  to  go 
wrong,  and  only  one  way  to  go  right. 

To  leave  a  force  and  factor  of 
such  supreme  social  significance  and 
potentiality  as  Science  in  its  present 
condition — socially  uncontrolled  and 
unorganized  for  the  commonweal — 
is  more  crassly  unintelligent  than  to 
permit  fused  and  capped  dynamite  to 
be  scattered  around  promiscuously, 
to  the  chances  of  any  carelessly  or 
maliciously    applied    spark. 

(A  striking  and  significant  parallel- 
ism to  the  thought  here  expressed 
was  subsequently  voiced  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  in  one  of  his  speeches 
at   the   Versailles    Peace    Conference: 

"Is  it  not  a  startling  circumstance, 
for  one  thing,  that  the  quiet  studies 
of  men  in  laboratories,  that  the 
thoughtful  developments  which  have 
taken  place  in  quiet  lecture  rooms, 
have  now  been  turned  to  the  de- 
struction  of  civilization? 

"The  enemy  whom  we  have  just 
overcome  had  at  his  seats  of  learning 
some  of  the  principal  centers  of 
scientific  study  and  discovery,  and  he 
used  them  in  order  to  make  de- 
struction sudden  and  complete;  and 
only  the  watchful,  continuous  co-op- 
eration of  men  can  see  to  it  that 
science  as  well  as  armed  men  are 
kept  within  the  harness  of  civiliza- 
tion.") 

Democracy. 

In  the  rough,  Democracy  is  the 
rule  of  the  mob,  the  rule  of  the 
masses,  the  rule  of  the  majority — the 
rule  of  un-intelligence.  But  even  so, 
it  is  better  than  any  form  of  govern- 
mental control  based  upon  self-inter- 
est— not  excepting  "Beneficent  Autoc- 
racy." 

Humanly  bad  and  socially  ineffi- 
cient as  it  may  be,  and  has  been,  De- 
mocracy alone  encloses  and  fosters 
the  living  germ  of  freedom — self-  gov- 
ernment. 

But,  during  the  scant  two  years  that 
we  were  at  war,  no  ordinary  or  ac- 
cepted definition  of  Democracy  could 
make  that  term  descriptive  of  the 
United  States;  indeed,  under  the  life 
threatening  stress  of  a  World  War, 
•our  great  but   chaotic   nation — in   self- 


preservation — ceased   to  be  a  Democ- 
racy! 

Transformation. 

In  that  remarkable  war  transfor- 
mation, we  certainly  did  not  become 
an  Autocracy;  even  less  so  a  Plutoc- 
racy; and  least  of  all  a  Theocracy.  In 
fact,  during  this  thrillingly  interesting 
time,  the  United  States  developed  into 
a  form  of  "Government"  for  which 
there  is  no  precedent  in  human  ex- 
perience. 

National    Industrial    Management 
— Technocracy. 

The  characterizing  peculiarity  which 
rendered  our  great  country  unique — 
during  this  period  of  national  stress — 
and  not  only  unique  but  uniquely  ir- 
resistible, was  the  fact  that  we  ra- 
tionally organized  our  National  Indus- 
trial Management.  We  became,  for 
the  time  being,  a  real  Industrial  Na- 
tion. 

This  we  did  by  organizing  and  co- 
ordinating the  Scientific  Knowledge, 
the  Technical  Talent,  the  Practi- 
cal Skill  and  the  Man  Power  of  the 
entire  Community:  focusing  them  in 
the  National  Government,  and  apply- 
ing this  Unified  National  Force  to  the 
accomplishment  of  a  Unified  National 
Purpose. 

For  this  unique  experiment  in  ra- 
tionalized Industrial  Democracy  I 
have  coined   the   term   "Technocracy." 

It  was  but  an  experiment — a  forced 
one — to  meet  an  exceptionally  serious 
emergency;  and  like  most  other  ex- 
perimental devices,  it  doubtless  was 
far  from  perfect  in  many  ways  and 
details.  Still,  as  it  seems  to  me,  it 
presented  an  important  suggestion,  the 
germ  of  a  novel  and  significant  idea — 
a  pioneer  idea  in  the  ancient  art  of 
government. 

Dog-Eat-Dog. 

Until  appropriate  economic  institu- 
tions and  instrumentalities  are  avail- 
able, humanly  effective  Industrial  De- 
mocracy must  remain  an  unrealizable 
ideal,  a  theory  unattainable  as  a  work- 
a-day  principle  of  social  life,  and  for 
the  efficient  distribution  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  toil,  upon  which  human  life 
rests. 

The  practical  working  out  of  our 
present  efforts  in  this  direction,  has  so 


14 


TECHNOCRACY 


far  only  resulted  in  a  frenzied  scram- 
ble for  wealth,  place,  power — a  brut- 
ish-instinct-scramble,  in  which  greed, 
cunning,  and  lust  for  human  mastery 
are  the  urges;  "dog-eat-dog"  the 
"practical"  ideal;  and  mystery, 
medievalis  m,  law-loaded-dice  and 
chuck-a-luck  instrumentalities  the  con- 
trolling factors. 

The  Greedless  Scientist. 

In  this  weird  social  (?)  conglomera- 
tion how  incongruous  seems — and,  in- 
deed, is— the  greedless  scientist,  who 
seeks  but  to  learn,  to  comprehend,  and 
to  co-ordinate  the  laws  of  nature;  and 
who  cares  naught  for  human  masterv. 
In  this  frenzied  scramble  for  science- 
created  wealth  what  earthly  chance 
has  its   real   creator — the  scientist? 

Practically    none! 

None,  unless  he  sells  himself  into 
virtual  slavery;  unless  he  debauches 
his  truth-seeking  to  the  interest  of 
those  who — more  "practical" — devote 
their  energy  and  cunning  to  the  "prac- 
tical" enterprise  of  gaining  power  by 
securing  control  of  wealth.  And  yet, 
the  United  States  is  characteristically 
a  nation  of  technologists — scientists, 
inventors,  workers  in  and  utilizers  of 
the  raw  materials  and  the  forces  of 
nature.  Not  only  are  we  instinctively 
mechanistic,  but  we  are — by  heritage, 
by  force  of  circumstance,  and  by  tra- 
dition— born  lovers  of  personal  free- 
dom. Freedom  is  our  ideal — self- 
government. 

Prior  to  the  War,  our  de-humaniz- 
ing ideal  was  Mechanistic  Efficiency, 
under  its  soul-searching  stress  was 
born    a    Humanly    Effective    Nation. 

Our  Costly  Lesson. 

With  all  these  considerations  before 
us,  and  our  fleeting  glance  at  the  pos- 
sibilities of  socially  unified  skill,  tech- 
nology, and  science,  how  worse  than 
foolish  to  revert  to  our  pre-War  "dog- 
eat-dog"  practices  and  practical  (?) 
ideals. 

Instead  of  so  doing,  would  it  not 
be  well  to  take  to  heart  the  lessons 
forced  upon  us  at  so  stupendous  a 
cost   of  life  and  human  misery? 

Would  it  not  be  wise  statesmanship 
to  experiment  further  on  the  lines  of 
direction  into  Avliich  we  were  forced 
by  the  compulsions  and  stresses  of 
War? 


Reconstruction — With   a   National 
Objective. 

The  War  is  over — won! 

We  are  now  facing  the — in  reality — ■ 
more  stupendous  problems  of  social 
reconstruction. 

For  the  War,  we  enlisted,  conscript- 
ed, commandeered  all  our  men  who  by 
natural  aptitude,  and  by  personal  in- 
clination, were  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  war.  We  organized  and  co- 
ordinated them  for  the  intended  pur- 
pose; Ave  trained  and  exercised  their 
bodies  and  their  minds  to  meet  known 
and  unknown  trials;  we  energized 
their  loyalty  to  the  Flag — the  Com- 
monweal; we  stirred  their  personal  de- 
votion to  the  Nation's  ideals;  we  en- 
thused their  wills  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  unified  Will  of  the  Nation 
— the  National  Objective. 

Rationalized   Industrial   Democracy. 

No  need  is  there  to  speak  of  the 
result  of  this  Unification  of  National 
Spirit  and  National  Purpose — the  War 
is  over;  won! — gloriously  won! 

As  we  enlisted  all  those  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  destructive  functions 
of  War,  let  us  now  systematically 
unify  those  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
constructive  functions  of  Peace — our 
scientists,  our  technologists,  our  in- 
ventors, indeed,  all  who  by  natural 
aptitude  and  personal  inclination  are 
specially  fitted  to  deal  with  the  social 
and  constructive  problems  of  peaceful 
industry;  nationally  unify  them  and 
their  accomplishments  for  the  Com- 
monweal. 

Let  us  organize  our  scientists, 
our  technologists,  our  exceptionallji 
skilled;  let  us  commandeer,  conscript, 
enlist,  their  loyalty,  their  devotion, 
their  enthusiasm,  their  intelligence, 
their  interest,  their  talents,  their  ac- 
complishments for  the  purposes  of 
Peace  and  the  realization  of  a  Noble 
National  Purpose. 

Let  us  rationalize  our  Industrial  De- 
mocracy! 

Public  Service  First. 

We  are  up  against  the  problem  of 
national  reconstruction;  let  us  not 
tinker  with  futile  details — let  us  na- 
tionally Re-construct. 

Such  a  national  co-ordination  of 
Science  and  Technology,  as  is  here 
suggested,  would  produce  and  consti- 


TECHNOCRACY 


15 


tute  a  living  and  Social  life-giving  Na- 
tional Reservoir  of  Science — practical 
and  theoretical;  a  Technical  Army  de- 
voted to  Peace  and   Construction. 

It  would  constitute  a  National  Army, 
from  which  alone  Private  Interests 
could  draw  their  needed  scientific  and 
technical  personnel;  personnel  whose 
loyalty  is  primarily  to  the  Common- 
weal—the Nation;  the  Nation  of  which 
they  arc  honored  Public  Servants. 

This  is  the  exact  reverse  of  our  pres- 
ent unpatriotic,  un-democratic  order 
and  organization.  Yet,  such  an  intim- 
ate, but  subsidiary,  relation  to  public 
service,  as  is  suggested,  would  liberate 
not  hamper  individual  energy  and  free- 
dom of  private  enterprise,  for  it  would 
permit  the  free  expression  of  self- 
interest  unified  in  the  commonweal. 
Also  it  would,  without  conflict,  fa- 
cilitate the  full  and  socially  useful  out- 
flow of  the  three  vigorous  forms  of 
life   energy — Strength,   Skill,   Cunning. 

Industrial  Apex. 

From  this  co-ordinated  Army  of 
Science,  Technology,  and  Skill  should 
be  selected  (by  a  process  of  realized 
capability  and  recognized  social  worth) 
a  representative  and  comprehensive 
National  Council  of  Scientists  as  Man- 
aging Directors — our  Supreme  Social 
Institution. 


This  National  Council  should  be  the 
apex  of  the  Nation's  Industrial  Man- 
agement. It  should  constitute  the 
Leadership  of  our  thus  rationalized 
Industrial   Democracy. 

Purpose. 

But  this  reconstruction  —  revolu- 
tionary as  it  doubtless  will  appear  to 
many — is  only  preparation  for  our 
National  Task. 

It  would,  indeed,  make  of  us  an  or- 
ganized human  aggregation — a  unified 
social  machine,  capable  of  intelligent 
self-conscious  national  life;  and  then 
comes  the  question: 

For  what  worthy  purpose  have  we 
constructed  this  huge  highly  organized 
Human   Instrumentality? 

This  problem  a  Nation — no  less 
than  an  individual — unescapably  faces, 
the  instant  it  has  become  really  self- 
determining. 

It  is  the  Nation's  first,  its  final,  its 
only  problem — the  final  problem  of 
human   existence. 

And  this  all-important  matter,  every 
Nation  (like  every  individual)  must 
settle  for  itself — settle  between  itself 
and  Universal  Rationality:  The  ob- 
ject of  the  Nation's  being;  its  con- 
scious rational  purpose — its  National 
Objective. 


Fernwald,    Berkeley,    January,    1919. 


SHOULD  THE  DESTINY  OF  THE  NATION 
BE   LEFT  TO   CHANCE? 


Technocracy 

PART  III. 

Ways  and  Means 
To  Gain  Industrial  Democracy. 


By  William  Henry  Smyth 

NOTE: — In  the  two  preceding  essays  Mr.  Smyth  forecasts  a  new  form 
of  government  that  he  calls  "Technocracy" — National  Industrial  Man- 
agement. This  article  discusses  ways  and  means  to  develop,  guide  and  di- 
rect purposive  industrial  democracy  and  so  usher  in  a  new  commonwealth. 

The  author  suggests  three  practical  thoughts  for  economic  reconstruc- 
tion: That  permitting  chance  to  influence  our  lives  and  conditions  means 
ignorance.  That  the  flow  of  time  is  not  reversible — the  future  cannot  help 
the  present.  That  cause  and  effect,  not  whim,  is  the  law  in  nature's  pro- 
cesses.— Editor. 


Social  Structures. 

Democracy  and  Autocracy  are  the 
antitheses  of  social  organization  and 
express  opposite  underlying  principles 
of  human  interaction. 

The  structural  details  of  any  human 
contrivance — whether  Mechanical  or 
Sociological — must  be  in  keeping  with 
its  underlying  idea.  Change  in  prin- 
ciple necessarily  entails  functional  re- 
organization— reconstruction. 

Hence,  ways  and  means  that  have 
proved  effective  for  autocracy,  or  that 
long  usage  has  shaped  to  facilitate 
its  aims  and  outcomes,  must  needs  be 
not  only  unworkable  in,  but  subversive 
of,  democracy.  So  it  will  be  helpful 
in  our  quest  to  keep  constantly  and 
clearly  in  mind  the  differences  be- 
tween these  mutually  exclusive  no- 
tions of  Government. 

Autocracy. 

Probably  the  most  radical  difference 
between  'these  two  forms  of  social 
structures  is  the  assumed  sources  from 
which  each  gets  its  authority. 

Autocracy  derives  its  powers  from 
"God."  This  assumption  pre-supposes 
inherent  social  distinctions  between 
individuals  —  occult  privileges  con- 
ferred upon  some  to  control  the  acts 
of  others.  But  effectively  to  control 
acts  makes  requisite  control  of 
thoughts,  for  consecutive  thought 
necessarily  precedes  purposive  action. 

Thus  Autocracy  implies  a  "God- 
given"  right  of  censorship  over  other 
men's  physical  and  mental  function- 
ing.    Hence,   it  also  pre-supposes   the 


non-neutrality  of  Nature  —  cosmic- 
favoritism;  for  clearly  nature's  "God" 
could  not  look  with  favor  upon  dis- 
obedience or  lack  of  submission  to  the 
mandates  of  His  authorized  agents. 

A  social  organization  framed  upon 
this  general  idea  implies  constructive 
details,  i.  e.,  customs,  laws,  institutions 
— economics — comprising: 

1.  A  Supreme  Control  element,  de- 
riving its  authority  from  and  respon- 
sible only  to  a  super-mundane  source. 

2.  Social  instrumentalities  to  en- 
force obedience — physically  coerce  hu- 
man actions,  and  super-naturally  con- 
trol men's  thoughts. 

3.  A  descending  series  of  conferred 
authority  starting  with  the  "God-ap- 
pointed Ruler"  and  ending  with  the 
popular  "masses"  void  of  rights. 

Thus  the  measure  of  efficiency  in 
this  social  system  is  the  absoluteness 
of  control  —  completeness  of  en- 
forced obedience  in  act  and  subservi- 
ence in  thought  to  the  "God-inspired 
will"  of  the  Autocrat  and  his  Agents. 
Democracy. 

Democracy  derives  its  authority 
from  Man.  This  pre-supposes  general 
intelligence  sufficient  at  least  for  self- 
conscious  Individual  wants  and  Mass 
purposes,  with  freedom  for  their  pur- 
suit; thus  it  assumes  super-mundane 
non-interference  with  human  wants 
and  purposes,  and  a  rational  Cosmic 
Order  corresponding  or  co-ordinated 
to  human  intelligence  in  suchwise  as 
to  be  knowable  and  responsive  there- 
to. 

A  social  system  based  upon  this  gen- 


TECHNOCRACY 


17 


eral  idea  implies  constructive  details 
in  consonance  with: 

1.  The   neutrality  of  nature. 

2.  Inherent  individual  rights  flowing 
from  the  facts  of  rational  human  ex- 
istence. 

3.  Equality  of  individual  rights. 
Thus  the  measure  of  efficiency  in  a 

Democracy  is  to  be  gaged  by  the  com- 
pleteness of  individual  freedom  of 
thought  and  liberty  of  action  in  rela- 
tion to  eaeli  other  and  of  access  to 
nature's  stores,  resources  and  forces — 
freedom  and  liberty  being  based  upon 
rationality  as  determined  by  work- 
ability in  the  production  of  general 
human  happiness,  prosperity  and  op- 
portunity for  self-development. 

Autocracy  is  based  upon  the  idea 
of  the  essential  manship  (i.  e.  man- 
likeness)  of  "God"  and  the  inher- 
ent unrighteousness — irrationality — of 
Man. 

Democracy  is  based  upon  the  idea 
of  the  essential  God-ship  (i.  e.  God- 
likeness)  of  Man  and  the  inherent 
righteousness — rationality — of  the  Uni- 
verse. 

Thus  we  get  a  clear  concept  of  our 
chosen  social  Ideal,  and  from  it  indi- 
cations as  to  the  character  of  means 
appropriate  to  or  discordant  therewith. 
In  other  words  we  have  on  broad  lines, 
bases  for  rational  economic  conven- 
tions, adapted  to  make  effective  a  so- 
cial system  on  the  basic  principles  of 
Democracy. 

Limitations. 

Neither  by  mutual  agreement,  -nor 
by  legal  enactment,  nor  constitutional 
provision,  nor  even  as  a  concession 
to  ancient  custom  and  universal  con- 
sent may  we  make  two  units  and  two 
units  constitute  five  units — being  con- 
trary to  the  facts  of  nature.  For  pre- 
cisely the  same  reasons  we  cannot  (by 
any  or  all  of  these  social  expedients) 
successfully  adopt  or  retain  economic 
devices  at  variance  with  the  essential 
principles    of   Democracy. 

Industrial  Democracy — Purpose. 

Autocracy  and  Democracy  are  both 
merely  forms  of  human  organization, 
group  contrivances — social  machines — 
built  on  different  basic  ideas  or  prin- 
ciples; machines  to  accomplish  some- 
thing. 


A  Nation  (no  less  than  an  individ- 
ual) that  would  build  (or  '"recon- 
struct") without  first  clearly  deter- 
mining the  purpose  of  the  proposed 
structure,  would  be  indulging  in 
a  foolish  and  futile  waste  of  en- 
ergy. But  what  our  national  purpose 
is,  is  quite  apart  from  the  present  in- 
quiry. And,  indeed,  it  is  not  the  prov- 
ince of  an  individual,  but  of  consensus 
to  determine  the  ultimate  National  Ob- 
jective 

Industrial  Democracy. 

The  people  of  the  United  States 
have,  however,  agreed  and  decided 
upon  the  idea  of  the  National  Or- 
ganization and  its  proximate  charac- 
ter —  Industrial  Democracy.  Or 
perhaps  this  outcome  represents  the 
resultant  of  choice  and  circumstance. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  we  are  now  con- 
sciously launched  on  a  career  of 
mechanistic  Industrial  Democracy; 
and  the  aim  of  the  present  inquiry 
is  to  investigate  the  functional  con- 
sistency (appropriateness)  of  the 
working  parts  to  the  accepted  prin- 
ciple of  the  National  Social   Machine. 

Neutral    Nature. — 

The  greatest  and  most  consequence- 
breeding  thought  that  has  ever  found 
lodgement  in  the  human  mind  is  the 
idea  that:  Nature  is  neutral  toward 
Man  and  in  regard  to  all  Human  con- 
cerns. 

The  greatest  and  most  conse- 
quential human  discovery  is':  The 
Orderliness — rationality— of     Nature. 

These  two  concepts  are  the  mar- 
velously  fruitful  germs  from  which 
all  modern  Science  has  developed. 
And,  as  exact  science — based  upon 
experimental  proof — owes  its  con- 
tinued development  to  machines  of 
precision;  it  may  with  ultimate  sig- 
nificance be  said  that  our  idea  and 
Ideal  of  Human  Liberty,  self-govern- 
ment, as  we  today  conceive  it,  is 
one  of  the  many  wonderful  products 
of  the  machine  shop — our  Mechan- 
istic   Industrialism. 

Motor  Impulse  of  Autocracy. 

Man's  soul  is  free,  hence  Rational 
Liberty  is  his  social  motor  impulse. 

Clearly,  with  an  anthropomorphic 
"God"  interested  in  human  wants, 
wishes,    purposes,    and    projects,    and 


18 


TECHNOCRACY 


with  unlimited  power  and  inclination 
to  meddle  in  human  concerns,  to 
help  or  hinder,  to  make  or  mar  them; 
human  "freedom  of  thought"  would 
be  futile,  and  human  "liberty  of  ac- 
tion"   a    farce. 

We  have  seen  that  the  motor  im- 
pulse of  Autocracy  is  super-mundane 
in  origin;  its  initiative  is  super- 
human; its  means  are  mysterious 
occult  powers  derived  from  "above"; 
that  privilege  maintained  by  ruthless 
force  and  cunning  is  an  essential 
element;  and  power  absolute  and 
humanly  irresponsible  is  its  objec- 
tive. 

These  factors  therefore  present 
some  criteria  wherewith  to  gauge 
the  validity  of  present  economic  con- 
ventions; also  to  test  their  appropri- 
ateness in  a  Democracy,,  the  basis  of 
which  is  human  experience  energized 
by  individual  human  initiative;  like- 
wise to  measure  their  probable  worth 
in  a  society  in  which  the  powers 
to  do,  and  the  opportunity  to  be, 
are  derived  from  the  consensus  _  of 
free  and  equal  human  wills;  wills 
subject  to  none,  but  co-operating  to 
facilitate  individual  and  mutual  pur- 
poses— purposes  socially  unified  in 
the    purposive    National    Will. 

Nature  Non-Ethicalr 
In  the  light  of  Modern  Science, 
human  experience  shows  that  Na- 
ture's dealings  with  Man  carry  no 
more  moral  or  ethical  significance 
than  id  the  problems  of  Practical 
Mechanics.  Scientifically  enlightened 
experience  teaches  that  Humanity 
alone  is  ethical  or  takes  account 
of  motives: 

Impartially  the  sun  warms  and 
scorches,  blesses  or  blasts;  brings 
famine  and  plenty,  life  and  death. 
The  sea,  the  wind,  earthquake  and 
torrent,  and  all  the  forces  of  Nature 
build  and  destroy,  with  utter  disre- 
gard to  Man  or  his  handiworks,  his 
hopes  or  his  faiths,  his  motives  or 
his  morals.  The  wondrous  mechan- 
ism of  Creative  Evolution  performs  its 
myriad  functions  no  less  oblivious  to 
Man's  existence  than  are  the  ponder- 
ous machines  of  Man's  own  devising. 
Nature,  like  them,  fosters  or  over- 
whelms with  heedless  indifference; 
ruthless,  pitiless,  appalling  to  ignor- 
ance,  error,   and  fear;   but  helpful,   in- 


dulgent, obedient  to  knowledge, 
intelligence  and  courage;  neither 
kind  nor  cruel,  nor  good,  nor  bad — 
impersonal. 

Failure. 

In  the  past,  with  childlike  faith  we 
have  relied  for  support  and  guidance 
in  human  affairs  upon  the  assumed 
beneficence  of  occult  Powers.  Upon 
this  basis,  Autocracy  is  the  only  con- 
ceivable form  of  social  organization. 

Yet,  the  autocratic  idea  and  Ideal 
has  proven,  (in  the  opinion  of  many), 
to  be  a  disastrous  failure  under  mod- 
ern conditions;  and  we  in  the  United 
States  have  decided  to  try  its 
antithesis — Democracy. 

But  while  discarding  the  old  for 
the  new  Ideal,  we  have,  most  illog- 
ically,  retained — substantially  un- 
changed— the  effective  conventions, 
the  ways  and  means,  of  the  old 
order. 

And  now,  with  modern  Science  and 
Mechanics — hindered  and  hampered 
at  all  points  by  our  futile  and  in- 
appropriate "Economic  System" — we 
are  fighting  for  National  life  and 
Democracy  against  efficiently  or- 
ganized Autocracy.  Not  alone  the 
Autocracy  of  organized  military  force 
but  also  the  Autocracy  of  system- 
atized   and    unified   financial    Cunning. 

Thus  the  urgent  need  for  scientific 
reconstruction  of  our  whole  social 
system  is  multiplied  manyfold,  if  we 
are  to  rectify  our  past  sins  against 
reason  and  retrieve  our  pitiful  social 
failure. 

Modern    Dependence    on     Machinery. 

The  life  of  the  ordinary  modern 
man  differs  from  that  of  all  previous 
times  in  his  peculiar  dependence  upon 
complicated  machinery  —  machinery 
over  which  he  exercises  no  personal 
control.  The  manifold  activities 
which  in  past  times  depended  upon 
individual  muscular  effort  are  now 
performed  by  prime  movers  and 
power  driven  machines,  so  that  the 
individual  man's  work  and  effort  is 
unmeaning  and  useless  apart  from 
these  instrumentalities  of  life  and 
production. 

Thus  the  United  States  is  one  huge 
mechanistic    industrial    workshop.. 

The  organization  of  these  com- 
plex,  specialized,  power-driven    mech- 


TECHNOCRACY 


19 


anisnis  and  the  sources  of  power  and 
of  the  raw  materials  with  and  upon 
which  they  operate,  together  with 
the  distribution  of  the  output,  are 
the  functions  of  Scientific  and  Tech- 
nical    Industrial     Management. 

There  should  be,  it  would  seem, 
no  room  or  occasion  in  such  an  ar- 
rangement, for  chance,  mystery  or 
magic. 

Old  Customs. 

That  the  average  individual  prefers 
old  customs  to  new,  helps  to  account 
for  much  that  is  strange  in  present 
conditions;  but  it  fails  to  explain 
completely  how  it  happens  that 
occultism  has  been  wholly  banished 
from  the  Machine  Shop — the  Social 
Producing  Element — and  remains  so 
conspicuously  interwoven  in  out 
"Economics" — the  Social  Distributive 
Element. 

It  would  seem  that  we  are  com- 
pelled to  assume  that  our  deep  seated 
human  instinct  of  self-interest  is  the 
controlling  factor  in  maintaining  this 
incongruous  combination  of  Science 
and   Occultism. 

It  would  seem  that  the  cunning 
acquisitive  instinct  of  certain  excep- 
tionally alert  minded  men  in  the  com- 
munity— taking  advantage  of  the 
normal  preference  of  the  average  man 
for  old  ways  and  customs,  and  his 
preoccupation  in  his  favorite  work- 
ings and  doings — is  employing  these 
ancient  and  familiar,  usages  to  befog 
and  obscure  the  stealthy  diversion  of 
an  undue  proportion  of  the  Commun- 
ity Product. 

If  this  be  so,  it  should  be  interest- 
ing to  glance  at  the  ways  and  means, 
the  prestidigitatorial  bag-o-tricks  by 
which  it  is  accomplished.  Later  we 
will  scrutinize  them  more  closely  and 
in   greater  detail. 

Money  and  Credit. 

The  bases  of  Mechanics  in  all  its 
simple  and  complex  expressions  are 
two  commonplace  elements  —  the 
Wedge  and  the  Lever;  the  bases  of 
our  Economic  and  Financial  System 
in  all  its  curious  manifestations  are 
also  two  commonplace  elements — 
"Money"  and  "Credit." 

Here  the  similarity  ends. 

There  is  not  on  ordinary  fourteen- 
year-old     school    boy    in     the     United 


States  but  who  knows  and  intelli- 
gently uses  the  wedge  and  lever;  and 
there  does  not  exist  a  Mechanical 
Expert  who  could  reasonably  ques- 
tion the  practical  accuracy  of  the 
boy's  knowledge  regarding  these 
elements    of    mechanics. 

Under  our  present  economic  us- 
ages, customs  and  laws,  each  one  of 
us — man,  woman  and  child — is  com- 
pelled, willy-nilly,  to  use  daily  and 
hourly  some  form  of  "money"  and 
"credit";  and  there  is  not  in  the  world 
a  man  who  understands  either  of 
these  economic  elements,  as  the 
boy  knows  the  wedge  and  lever. 
Nor  is  there  an  Economic  Specialist 
or  Financial  Expert  whose  attempted 
explanation  of  either  "money"  or 
"credit"  (or  the  functions  of  either) 
whose  supposed  elucidation  would 
not  be  ridiculed  and  controverted  by 
a  multitude  of  Economic  and  Mone- 
tary Experts  of  equal  or  greater  au- 
thority. 

The  average  man  of  affairs — Law- 
yer, Doctor,  Editor,  Tradesman,  Mer- 
chant or  Mechanic — freely  admits  his 
incapacity  to  understand  the  "mys- 
teries of  finance,"  and  frankly  says: 
"I  don't  know  a  damn  thing  about 
it."  Even  Bankers  and  Brokers, 
Financiers  and  Economists,  whose 
business  it  is  to  deal  in  and  mani- 
pulate these  most  remarkable  com- 
modities, will  quite  frequently  make 
the  same  honest  confession  of  ignor- 
ance. Indeed,  the  subject  is  common 
stock   in   the  jokesmith's   workshop. 

Mystery,   Magic — Failure. 

In  no  other  department  of  human 
interest  is  so  much  mystery,  confu- 
sion and  controversy  regarding  the 
basic  "facts"  and  assumptions,  except 
possibly  institutional  religion — which, 
avowedly,  rests  upon  the  miraculous 
and  supernatural.  Indeed,  the  paral- 
lelism between  these  two  ancient  ac- 
tivities is  curiously  complete.  Both 
transcend  human  experience,  and 
neither  submits  to  the  tests  of  Sci- 
ence— weighing,  measuring,  cause- 
and-effect    experimental    proof. 

"Credit." 
Like  our  religious  forms,   our   Eco- 
nomic   System    is    hoary    with    age — a 
survival  from  ancient  Babylonian  cus- 


20 


TECHNOCRACY 


toms.  It  rests  on  assumptions  un- 
sanctioned by  science;  its  effects  are 
causeless;  the  miraculous  supersedes 
natural  causation;  mystery  takes  the 
place  of  human  reason;  and  endless 
futurity  is  its  heavenly  storehouse  of 
all  humanly  desirable  things. 

A   Thievish   Process. 

From  this  miraculous  store  the 
"Wizard  of  Finance,"  with  his  wonder- 
working wand — "Credit" — filches  back 
(for  a  slight  present  tangible  con- 
sideration and  without  the  owners' 
consent)  the  imagined  products  of 
imagined  future  toil  of  unborn  gen- 
erations of  workers — a  doubly  thievish 
process,  as  black  in  morals  as  in 
magic. 

"Money" 

While  supposedly  representing  life- 
less things  (that  wear  out  by  use), 
"money"  is  conventionally  endowed 
(by  financial  magic)  with  everlasting 
life,  and  also  with  life's  unique  func- 
tion —  reproduction.  So  "M  oney 
makes  money"  for  ever  and  ever — 
for  the  Magician. 

Peace,  super-abundance,  and  endless 
idleness — "retirement  from  business" — 
is  "the  Promised  Land,  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey"  of  Economic  Saint- 
hood— the  earthly  Heaven  of  "Fi- 
nance." 

But       .       .  !      Never  was   work 

more  urgent  nor  idleness  less  com- 
mon; never  was  peace  more  scarce  nor 
strife  so  universal;  the  labor  of  future 
generations  has  been  crazily  "mort- 
gaged" by  thievish  "economic"  (!) 
conventions  beyond  all  possibility  of 
redemption  (in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
science  and  mechanics  have  multiplied 
manifold  the  effectiveness  and  produc- 
tiveness of  present  labor);  and  Man's 
present  vocation  is  social  suicide — the 
destruction  of  wealth  and  the  slaugh- 
ter of  his  fellow  men! 

A  stupendous  and  tragic  record  of 
"Economic"  folly  and  failure!. 

The  Mechanic's  Philosophy — Success. 
The  "God"  of  our  nursery  tradi- 
tion has  been  banished  from  the  Ma- 
chine Shop  and  the  world  of  Me- 
chanics. The  result  of  this  courage- 
ous spiritual  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence has  been  our  "Conquest  of  Na- 


ture," our  Age  of  Productive  Indus- 
try- 

Seemingly  a  like  rending  of  thought 

shackles,  a  similar  breaking  of  mental 
prison  bars,  is  needed  in  the  realm  of 
Economics. 

"Chance"  Catastrophes. 

The  "God  of  Chance"  or  "God's 
mysterious  providence" — which  per- 
mits the  killing  of  a  President  by  a 
madman;  the  obliteration  of  a  great 
city  by  fire;  the  sinking  of  a  huge  pas- 
senger-ship in  mid-ocean;  and  a 
world-war — are  merely  misleading 
euphemisms  for  human  ignorance, 
human  improvidence,  and  childish 
shirking  of  responsibility. 

Social  conventions — our  Economic 
and  Financial  system — which  by 
"money  magic"  make  these  "chance" 
catastrophes  into  controlling  factors 
in  the  distribution  of  the  product  of 
human  effort,  are  simply  tragic 
monuments  to  ignorant  superstition, 
mental   laziness,   and    criminal    folly. 

Indeed,  our  whole  "Economic  Sys- 
tem" is  so  incredibly  unscientific, 
so  irrational,  so  utterly  puerile, 
that,  were  it  not  for  custom- 
induced  mental  myopia,  its  glaring 
absurdities  would  long  ago  have  suf- 
ficed— without  a  world-war — to  shock 
our  moral  sense  and  intelligence  into 
effectivity. 

When  scientific  imagination  and 
knowledge  of  Nature's  Laws  are  sub- 
stituted in  our  economics  for  chance, 
mystery,  and  magic;  when  the  regu- 
lation of  our  Nation-wide  industry  is 
taken  out  of  the  hands  of  quib- 
b  1  i  n  g  "lawyers",  and  nature's 
forces,  resources,  and  the  mechanical 
instrumentalities  for  their  transforma- 
tion into  human  necessaries  and  de- 
sirables are  no  longer  the  play-things 
of  money-juggling  gamblers,  and  the 
products  of  Nature  and  Mechanic  Arts 
no  longer  glut  the  instinctive  craving 
of  Acquisitive  Cunning;  when  this 
economic  childish  irrationality  is 
sanely  substituted  by  organized 
Science,  Technology,  and  specialized 
Skill  co-ordinated  in  National  Indus- 
trial Management,  then  will  begin  real 
civilization,  the  Age  of  Social  Sanity, 
— Technocracy. 

"Chance"  in  Economics. 

A   machine  is   certain   in   action   and 


TECHNOCRACY 


21 


uniform  in  output,  because  scientific 
imagination  has  foreseen,  and  con- 
structive intelligence  has  provided  for, 
the  elimination  of  the  "chance"  ele- 
ment. 

The  forces  which  will  devastate  the 
results  of  man's  industry,  through  the 
"natural"  action  of  an  uncontrolled 
torrential  stream,  (with  equal  uncon- 
cern) if  scientifically  directed,  will 
make  the  same  country-side  teem  with 
human  happiness — but,  not  by 
"chance."  In  like  manner,  the  same 
"natural"  social  forces  which  make 
poverty,  wretchedness,  and  vice,  will 
(with  equal  unconcern)  produce  the 
opposite  results — but  never  by 
"chance." 

Human  institutions  founded  upon 
"chance"  merely  express  Man's  brute- 
unintelligence.  That  our  "Economic 
System"  makes  "chance"  a  controlling 
factor  for  the  distribution  of  wealth, 
merely  shows  the  persistence  of  ignor- 
ance and  that  old  habits  of  thought 
are  more  compelling  than  modern  in- 
telligence. To  legalize  "chance"  delib- 
erately is  to  relinquish  our  Godlike 
control  over  the  results  of  Nature's 
processes,  and  thus  voluntarily  enslave 
ourselves  to  ruthless  Nature,  and  to 
abandon  even  our  authority  over  the 
outcomes  of  our  own  actions.  Hence, 
it  would  seem,  that  the  first  step  to- 
ward a  new  and  Rational  Economics  is 
a  courageous  declaration  of  our  free- 
dom from  tyranny  of  the  insensate 
"God  of  Chance." 

Choice. 

When  a  Mechanic  has  decided  upon 
an  idea  or  principle  as  the  basis  of  a 
proposed  machine,  he  has  exercised  his 
rational  freedom  of  choice.  Regard- 
less of  whether  his  choice  is  wise  or 
not  (in  this  decision)  he  has  placed 
definite  limits  upon  the  range  of  sub- 
sequent selection  in  regard  to  detail 
instrumentalities.  Indeed,  he  has  en- 
tered into  an  implied  contract — as- 
sumed a  rational  responsibility — to  em- 
ploy only  such  means  in  the  construc- 
tion of  his  machine  as  (in  accord  with 
"Universal  Order)  are  appropriate  to 
make  effective  his  proposed  mechanical 
contrivance;  with  failure  as  the  pen- 
alty for  wilful  or  ignorant  error — 
breach  of  his  implied  contract. 

History  demonstrates  conclusively 
that  races,  nations,  civilizations  (equal- 


ly with  individuals),  are  subject  to  the 
same  rational  limitations,  are  bound 
by  the  same  responsibility,  and  incur 
the  same  penalty  for  wilful  or  ignorant 
error  in  exercising  their  human  free- 
dom of  choice. 

Out  Last  Warning! 

The  practical  difficulties  of  forestall- 
ing the  hazards  of  birth,  of  death,  and 
of  disaster,  are  doubtless  great,  and 
the  problem  of  eliminating  the 
"chance"  element  from  our  economic 
system  is  a  man-sized  job — with  a  slim 
probability  of  complete  success.  But, 
it  is  reasonably  certain,  that,  if  courage 
to  make  the  needed  change  is  lacking, 
or  if  our  intelligence  is  insufficient 
for  the  task,  our  social  adventure  in 
Democracy  will  prove  a  tragedy.  And 
the  world  war  is,  I  believe,  our  last 
warning. 

Laisser  Faire. 

Nor  may  we  drift;  laisser  faire  is 
lazy  fear — cowardly  re-submission  to 
the  dog-eat-dog  jungle  law,  right-of 
might  principle  of  Nature — and  of  Au- 
tocracy— from  which  our  modern  con- 
science   has    revolted. 

The  Mechanic. 
While  caution  bids  us  pause  and 
realize  that  Nature  is  ruthless  in  its 
punishment  of  ignorance  and  error, 
courage  reminds  us  that  Nature  also  is 
infinitely  lavish  in  its  rewards  for 
knowledge  and  intelligence;  and  cour- 
age points  to  the  Practical  Mechanic 
as  an  exemplar  and  an  object-lesson 
for  the   Social   Constructor. 

Mechanic  vs.   Nature 

The  Mechanic  has  courageously  in- 
vaded Nature's  guarded  realm;  has  ac- 
cepted her  "no  quarter"  terms;  and 
has  assumed  complete  responsibility 
for  his  revolt  against  all  the  ancient 
Occult    Powers. 

He  has  tacitly  assumed  that  "God" 
and  "Nature"  are  supremely  and  pre- 
eminently self-sufficing;  that  these  all- 
inclusive  profundities  utterly  trans- 
cend the  utmost  limits  of  his  acts  or 
his  art — that  the  "plans  of  God"  and 
the  Mechanic's  problems  cannot  in 
anywise   conflict. 

He  predicates  that  "God"  and  "Na- 
ture" are  limitlessly  competent  to  care 
for  their  own  infinite  concerns;  hence, 


22 


TECHNOCRACY 


that  His  problems  involve  only  what 
the  Mechanic  wants,  and  not  "the 
wants  of  God."  In  so  far  as  concerns 
his  art  (and  with  reverence  for  Uni- 
versal Order,  which  makes  his  art  pos- 
sible) the  Mechanic,  in  effect,  says: 
"This  I  will,"  "Thus  I  do."  "I  am 
the  Earth-god  of  things,  of  matter, 
and    of    motion." 

The  Mechanic's  Achievements 

And  how  gloriously  has  the  Me- 
chanic made  good! 

Even  the  most  most  cursory  survey 
of  his  accomplishments,  in  manufac- 
ture, in  transportation,  in  communica- 
tion, in  reclamation,  in  power  utiliza- 
tion generally,  staggers  while  it  exalts 
the  mind. 

Has  he  not  with  wheat  and  corn 
from  Eastern  steppe  and  Western 
prairie,  and  with  fresh  and  wholesome 
meat  from  the  Antipodes,  fed  the  hun- 
gry workers  of  Europe;  and  brought 
from  the  four  corners  of  the  Earth 
materials  for  their  needs,  their  uses, 
and  their  industries?  Yes!  And  from 
the  teeming  estuaries  of  the  North  he 
has  served  the  World's  table  with 
dainty  fish,  and  with  wine  and  oil  and 
luscious  fruit  from  the  fertile  valleys 
of   the    Pacific    Slope. 

By  his  use  of  Nature's  forces,  he 
has  immeasurably  out-rivalled  imag- 
ination's Magic  Carpet,  transporting 
by  his  mechanisms  untold  millions  of 
work-weary  families  from  cramped 
and  life-worn  areas  to  the  free  spaci- 
ousness of  many  wide  scattered  Edens 
of  plenty,   there  to  found   Empires. 

And  more,  he  has  bound  these 
broadcast  settlements  in  bonds  of  mu- 
tual help  with  space-negating  bands  of 
steel  and  steam;  and  on  the  one-time 
pathless  ocean  he  has  marked  out 
highways  with  light  and  life  of  swift- 
moving  commerce,  till,  in  the  utter- 
most ends  of  the  earth,  friend  greets 
friend  as  though  but  a  mile  from 
home.  Seas  no  longer  separate,  nor 
continents  divide,  for  Man  now  talks 
with  Man  as  face  to  face  across  the 
soundless  void. 

As  with  a  broom,  he  has  swept  sul- 
len ocean  back"  to  its  deeps  and  bared 
Netherland's  fertile  plains;  and  wMi 
dvke,  and  mill,  and  pump  he  holds 
his  prize  secure  from  angry  wave  and 
wind  and  shifting  sand.  A  nriz^  in- 
deed!— a   rich   and   proc<~>prous   country 


of  towns  and  villages,  of  farms  and 
homesteads,  all  interlr~ed  with  road 
and  rail  and  placid  water-way;  a  hive 
of  human  industry  —  a  kingdom 
snatched  from  ocean's  grasp. 

In  torrid  Egypt,  too,  he  has  tamed 
the  turgid  Nile  to  flood  the  desert 
sands  and  made  thereof  a  nation's 
granary. 

He  has  moved  mountains,  split 
continents,  harnessed  Niagaras  to  his 
machines;  subdued  the  land,  triumph- 
ed over  the  sea,  and  now  seeks  do- 
minion   of    the    air. 

And,  East  and  West  and  North 
and  South  he  has  sluiced  and  swept 
with  giant  streams  the  high-piled 
gravels,  and  ript  and  smashed  and 
ground  to  powder,  fine  as  from  the 
mills  of  the  gods,  mountains  of 
crystalline  quartz;  and  dredged,  and 
plowed,  and  sifted  the  frozen  Arctic 
tundra,  to  tear  from  reluctant  Earth 
its  golden  treasure  for  counters 
wherewith  to  play  Man's  world-wide 
commerce  game. 

The  Economist's  Failure. 
All  this  stupendous  output  of  hu- 
man experience,  human  reason,  hu- 
man industry — rivalling  creation  itself 
— is  in  startling  contrast  with  our 
world-wide  tragedy,  the  outcome  of 
our  world-wide  economics.  A  con- 
trast doubly  significant;  significant 
in  the  entire  absence  of  chance,  of 
mystery,  of  magic  from  the  work  of 
the  mechanic;  and  again  as  expres- 
sing the  practical  extremes  of  glori- 
ous success  and  of  failure  most  tragic. 

Selective     Rejection. 

The  human  mind,  like  the  body, 
can  advance  only  step  by  step,  from 
the  solid  ground  of  the  known  and 
tested  to  the  doubtful  footing  of  the 
unfamiliar.  Human  progress  is  like 
adventuring  through  a  morass  of 
ignorance'  toward  a  far-distant  goal; 
with  disaster  the  penalty  for  every 
false    step. 

In  the  great  adventure  called  "Hu- 
man Progress"  the  "Occult"  has 
proved    a    will-o-the-wisp    guide. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  stupend- 
ous accomplishments  which  charac- 
terize productive  industry  and  the 
present  era  as  the  Age  of  Mechanics, 
the  process  which  has  brought  it  all 
about,     is     the     same     step-by-step — 


TECHNOCRACY 


23 


proof  by  experiment  —  scientific 
method.  We  can  think  of  the  new 
and  unknown  only  in  terms  of  the 
old   and   familiar. 

Still  errors  detected  and  fallacies 
perceived  arc  guides  for  inventive 
synthesis — construction. 

Selection  is  but  a  process  of  in- 
verted rejection.  So  having  deter- 
mined that  our  ideal  social  structure 
is  the  antithesis  of  the  Autocratic  idea, 
we  may  with  confidence  assume  that 
the  characteristic  elements  of  Auto- 
cracy are  inappropriate  for  our  pur- 
pose. Thus  by  a  process  of  (selec- 
tive) rejection  we  should  arrive  at 
economic  expedients  more  in  har- 
mony with   our   Social   Ideal. 

Democracy   vs.   Anarchy. 

Universal  Order  is  the  key-note  of 
modern  Science;  and  upon  this  order- 
liness of  Nature  scientific  thinking 
is  based.  Hence,  the  much  abused 
phrases  "human  liberty"  and  "hu- 
man freedom"  cannot  imply  anarchy 
or  chaos,  i.  e.  dis-order. 

Liberty  means  absence  of  irrational 
restraint. 

Freedom  of  thought  can  have  but 
self-imposed    limitations. 

Social  Freedom  simply  means  lib- 
erty for  rational  individual  activity 
tending  to  the  accomplishment  of 
Community  Purpose. 

National    Self-determination. 

When  a  Nation — exercising  its 
freedom  of  choice — discards  Autoc- 
racy and  selects  Democracy  as  its 
social  principle  it  cannot  sucessfully 
retain  the  working  elements  of  the 
discarded  social  organization.  If  it  is 
to  survive,  it  must  adopt  ways  and 
means  and  methods  of  life  in  con- 
sonance   with    its    chosen    principle. 

Our   Futile   Experiment. 

The  United  States,  like  a  novice 
in  Mechanics,  has  seemingly  under- 
taken the  futile  experiment  of  build- 
ing an  Industrial  Democracy  out  of 
the  functional  elements  of  Preda- 
tory Autocracy.  The  natural  result  is 
noise,  friction  and  heat.  And  worse 
— a  dangerously  large  proportion  of 
our  energy  is  wastefully  expended 
in  constant  readjustment  to  keep  the 
outfit  running,  and  to  prevent  its 
pounding     itself     into     scrap.       Prac- 


tically the  whole  of  our  "Economic  and 
Financial  System"  is  a  left-over  from 
the  days  when  absolutism  and  privilege 
were  universally  accepted  ideas  and 
ideals;  and  when  magic-causation  was 
an  unquestioned  "fact."  Quite  natur- 
ally our  economic  customs,  conven- 
tions and  laws  are  in  keeping  with 
these  antiquated  assumptions.  Sub- 
stantially our  "Economics"  is  a  ves- 
tige, and  as  with  other  vestiges — like 
our  vermiform  appendix — it  is  now 
functionally  useless,  and  frequently 
causes  much  unnecessary  pain  and 
trouble;  which  sooner  or  later  may  end 
in    tragedy. 

Not  All  Bad. 

While,  in  the  foregoing,  there  is  no 
real  cause  for  pessimism,  there  is  even 
less  reason  for  happy-go-lucky  optim- 
ism. 

Mentally  reviewing  this  matter, 
there  appear  several  implications 
which  stand  out  clearly  as  definite 
practical  suggestions  for  economic  re- 
construction. 

Suggestions  for  Reconstruction. 

First:  That  "chance"  means  ignor- 
ance. 

The  elimination  of  even  the  crudely 
obvious  "chance"  factors  from  our 
laws,  customs  and  economic  conven- 
tions, would  do  away  with  much  rank 
injustice  in   our  social   functioning. 

Second:  That  the  onward  flow  of 
time  is  not  reversible — the  future  can- 
not help  the  present. 

A  clear  appreciation  and  practical 
application  of  this  seemingly  axiom- 
atic proposition  would  go  far  to  rem- 
edy the  grosser  evils  of  capitalistic 
economics,  and  strip  "money"  and 
"credit"  of  their  conventionally  en- 
dowed time-reversing  magic. 

In  every  physical  human  accom- 
plishment, there  are  involved  but 
three  factors  or  elements:  raw  Ma- 
terial (Nature's  free  gift);  human 
Time;  human  Energy.  Every  product 
(food,  clothing,  housing,  transporta- 
tion facilities,  or  what  not),  represents 
a  definite  amount  of  past  human  time 
and  past  human  energy — gone  beyond 
recall.  Neither  by  ghostly  hands  nor 
by  flibber-gib  financial  conventions  can 
future  work  or  future  product  be 
yanked  back  into  the  present,  to  be 
used  for  present  purposes,  or  to  meet 


24 


TECHNOCRACY 


gencies — even  if  self-re- 
spect and  common  honesty  did  not  suf- 
fice to  prevent  such  inexcusable  cam- 
ouflaged robbery  of  the  helpless,  the 
quintessence  of  "taxation  without  rep- 
tation." 

Third:  That  cause-and-effect,  not 
whim,  is  the  order  of  Nature's  pro- 
cesses. 

Science  shows  us  that,  so  far  as  Man 
is  concerned,  Nature  is  infinite  poten- 
tialities; potentialities  realizable  in 
terms  of  individual  and  collective  pur- 
poses. We  cap.  if  we  will- — providing 
our  aims  and  objectives  are  in  accord 
(lie  Rational  Order  of  Nature. 

It  is  only  in  purposive  action  that 
n  freedom — self-determination — 
is  expressed. 

An  aimless  man  or  a  purposeless 
"nation"  is  an  equally  insignificant 
Lent  of  raw  material  in  Nature's 
Evolutionary  and  Devolutionary  pro- 
cesses. But,  knowledge  of  Nature  and 
of  Nature's  Laws  co-ordinated  by  Hu- 


man Intelligence  in  rationally  purpos- 
ive actions,  have  all  of  Nature's  in- 
finite potentialities  and  stupendous 
forces  as  tools  to  facilitate  accom- 
plishment. 

Purposive  Co-ordination. 

Obviously  the  control  of  our  Great 
National  Workshop — the  United  States 
— should  not  be  in  the  hands 
of  selfish  Mr.'  Acquisitive  Cunning — 
"who  knows  the  price  of  everything 
and  the  value  of  nothing" — facile  only 
in  getting  something  for  nothing — and 
whose  highest  social  ideal  is:  "To  buy 
cheap  and  sell  dear";  but — in  reason, 
in  common  horse  sense! — our  purpos- 
ive Industrial  Democracy  should  be 
guided  and  directed  by  nationally  or- 
ganized and  co-ordinated  specialists  in 
all  the  branches  of  Skill,  Technology, 
and  Science  which  are  involved  in  its 
Social  Life  and  requisite  to  the  suc- 
cessful accomplishment  of  its  Great 
National    Objective. 


Fernwald,  Berkeley,  February,  1919. 


IS  THE  ONWARD  FLOW  OF  TIME  REVERSIBLE 
BY   HUMAN    CONVENTION? 


Technocracy 


PART  IV. 
Skill  Economics  for  Industrial  Democracy. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

Note — In  the  previous  essays  of  this  series  the  author  shows  that  men's 
characterizing  activities  express  certain  instincts  or  instinctive  urges  and 
that  human  societies  (nations)  today  consist  of  uncoordinated  groups,  each 
bent  upon  gratifying  its  predominating  instinctive  urge — at  the  expense 
of  other  groups  and  regardless  of  the  common  weal.  He  proposes  as  a 
remedy  for  this  social  strife  a  plan  of  National  Co-ordination —  r^cy. 

This  article  discusses  some  of  the  important  phases  more  in  detail, 
with  constructive  suggestions  for  the  elimination  of  "chance,"  "mystery," 
and  "magic"  from  our  present  economic  processes,  the  substitution  of 
intelligent  purposive  ways  and  means  for  haphazard  methods;  and  for 
self-interested  autocratic  control,  the  substitution  of  Scientific  Leadership 
organized  for  the  accomplishment  of  consensus  National  Objectives. — Editor 


Our  Nationwide  Machine  Shop. 

Attempting  to  make  a  robust  man 
conform  to  nursery  usages  and 
swaddling  clothes  conventions  would 
be  no  more  absurd  than  our  present 
efforts  to  conduct  Twentieth  '  Cen- 
tury life  on  the  Hunter  and  Shecp- 
r  customs   of  our  racial   infancy. 

Indeed,  it  would  be  less  preposter- 
ous than  our  continued  efforts  (de- 
spite tragic  experience)  to  have  law- 
yers and  gamblers  run  our  nationwide 
Machine  Shop  by  methods  and  i 
conventions  not  differing  essentially 
from  ancient  Babylonish  laws  of  King 
Hamurabi  and  economic  customs  in 
vogue  two  thousand  years  before 
Christ. 

Childish   Economics. 

Human  ^society  started  with  Brute- 
force  Economics,  suitable  to  Cave- 
man— Hunter  and  Fighter  —  times. 
Then  humanity  advanced  through  the 
Pastoral — animal  breeder — stage,  be- 
ing therein  confronted,  socially  and 
economically,  with  the  awe-inspiring 
marvel  of  phallic  phenomena,  the  fear- 
ful mystery  of  Death  and  the  joy- 
inciting  miracle  of  Life — life  with  its 
seemingly  endless  sequence  of  pro- 
duction and  reproduction. 

The  Animal  Breeder  stage  of  de- 
velopment, indeed,  seems  to  have  left 
an  indelible  impression;  seems  to  have 
peculiarly  influenced  man's  mental 
outlook  and  modified  his  thinking  pro- 
cesses    so     profoundly     as     to     have 


shaped  even  our  modern  business  con- 
ventions and  daily  practices — or  at 
least  to  have  provided  favorable 
psychic  habitat  for  our  conventional 
economic  irrationalities. 

Mysticism  and  Symbolism. 

The  mind-staggering  miracle  of 
generation  seems  to  have  thrown 
primitive  human  thinking  back  upon 
itself  in  dazed  befogment — bewilder- 
ment and  mistunderstandihg  of  Na- 
ture's laws,  out  of  which  confusion  of 
thought  emerged  Mysticism  with  its 
magic   symbolism. 

This  mental  chaos  of  mystic  sym- 
bolism— the  endowment  of  the  sym- 
bol (or  "representative")  with  the 
qualities  and  functions  of  the  thing 
symbolized — is  a  primordial  explana- 
tory perversion  which  still  character- 
izes our  commonplace  thinking  on 
monetary  matters.  The  "power  of 
money"  is  proverbial  among  us;  and 
that  "money  makes  money"  is  axio- 
matic to  the  average  man;  also  that 
"money  makes  the  mare  go,"  and  that 
it  performs  many  other  strenuously 
animistic  stunts. 

Money,  Mortgages  and  Nehemiah. 

Down  through  the  ages  occasion- 
ally we  find  (both  in  ecclesiastic  and 
lay  writings)  clearly  reasoned  repro- 
bation of  practices  based  upon  this 
naive  misinterpretation  of  the  facts  of 
Nature. 


26 


TECHNOCRACY 


"The  words  of  Nehemiah,  the  son  of 
Hacaliah"  and  cup  bearer  of  Ar- 
taxerxes,  king  of  Persia,  are  as  "mod- 
ern" today  as  on  the  day  they  were 
uttered — nearly  five  hundred  years 
before  Christ. 

And  they  are  as  applicable  to  the 
"civilized"  -world  today  as  they  were 
to  the  kindergarten  usages  and  anti- 
social practices  of  our  civilization's 
nursery — Mesopotamia. 

"Some  also  there  were  that  said, 
We  are  mortgaging  our  fields  and  our 
vineyards,  and  our  houses:  let  us  get 
corn,  because  of  the  dearth.  There 
were  some  also  that  said,  We  have 
borrowed  money  for  the  king's  tribute 
upon  our  fields  and  our  vineyards.  Yet 
now  our  flesh  is  as  the  flesh  of  our 
brethren,  our  children  as  their  chil- 
dren: and  lo,  we  bring  into  bondage 
our  sons  and  our  daughters  to  be  ser- 
vants, and  some  of  our  daughters  are 
brought  into  bondage  already;  neither 
is  it  in  our  power  to  help  it;  for  other 
men  have  our  fields  and  our  vineyards. 

"And  I  was  very  angry  when  I 
heard  their  cry  and  these  words. 

"Then  I  consulted  with  myself,  and 
contended  with  the  nobles  and  the 
rulers,  (or  deputies)  and  said  unto 
them,  Ye  exact  usury,  every  one  of 
his  brother.  And  I  held  a  great  as- 
sembly against  them. 

"And  I  said  unto  them,  We  after 
our  ability  have  redeemed  our  breth- 
ren the  Jews,  which  were  sold  unto  the 
heathen;  and  would  ye  even  sell  your 
brethren?  and  should  they  be  sold 
unto    us? 

"Then  held  they  their  peace,  and 
found  never  a  word. 

"Also  I  said,  The  thing  that  ye 
do  is  not  good: 

"And  I  likewise,  my  brethren  and 
my  servants,  do  lend  them  money 
and  corn  on  usury.  I  pray  you  let 
us  leave  off  this  usury. 

"Restore,  I  pray  you,  to  them,  even 
this  day,  their  fields,  their  vineyards, 
their  olive  yards,  and  their  houses, 
also  the  hundredth  part  of  the  money, 
and  of  the  corn,  the  wine,  and  the  oil, 
that  ye  exact  of  them. 

"Then  said  they,  We  will  restore 
them,  and  require  nothing  of  them; 
so   will   we    do,    even    as    thou    sayest. 

"Then  I  called  the  priests,  and  took 
an  oath  of  them,  that  they  should  do 
according    to    this    promise. 

Also   I   shook  out  my  lap,  and  said, 


So  God  shake  out  every  man  from 
his  house,  and  from  his  labor,  that 
performeth  not  this  promise;  even 
thus   be   he    shaken   out,   and   emptied. 

"And  all  the  congregation  said, 
Amen,   and   praised   the   Lord. 

"And  the  people  did  according  to 
this  promise."        (Nehemiah   Chap.  5.) 

Money,  Reason  and  Rome. 

Practical  minded  ancient  Rome, 
from  whom  we  have  learned  so 
much  of  our  work-a-day  jurispru- 
dence— while  retaining  many  other 
gross  superstitions — seems  to  have 
rejected  this  animistic  pecuniary 
absurdity,  as  is  shown  by  the  familiar 
expression:  Money  does  not  procreate 
money  —  "Nummus  nummum  non 
parit." 

Money,  Sheep  and  Shylock. 
The  genius  of  Shakespeare  realized 
die  fatuity  of  this  pastoral-age- 
founded  pecuniary  delusion  that 
"money  breeds  money"  (which  still 
obsesses  our  misbegotten  finance 
conventions),  and  holds  it  up  to  de- 
served   ridicule: 

(The     Merchant     of     Venice — Act     1 

Scene   3.) 

Shylock: 

When  Jacob  grazed  his  uncle  Laban's 

sheep — 

Antonio: 
And     what     of     him?       Did     he     take 

interest? 

Shylock: 
No,    not     take    interest,    not,    as    you 

would    say, 
Directly         interest:         mark         what 

Jacob    did. 
When       Laban      and      himself      were 

compromised 
That    all     the     eanlings    which     were 

streaked    and    pied 
Should   fall  as  Jacob's  hire,  the  ewes, 

being   rank, 
In     the     end     of     autumn     turned     to 

the    rams, 
And,    when    the    work    of    generation 

was 
Between     these     woolly     breeders     in 

the     act, 
The      skilful      shepherd      peel'd      me 

certain  wands 
And,    in    the    doing    of    the    deed    of 

kind, 
He  stuck  them  up  before  the  fulsome 

ewes, 
Who    then    conceiving    did    in    eaning 

time 


TECHNOCRACY 


2? 


Fall    parti-colorcd    lambs,    and    those 

were   Jacob's. 
This    was    a    way    to    thrive,    and    he 

was  blessed: 
And    thrift    is    blessing,    if    men    steal 

it    not. 

Antonio: 
This    was    a    venture,    sir,    that    Jacob 

served   for; 
A    thing    not    in    his    power    to    bring 

to   pass, 
But     sway'd     and     fashion'd     by     the 

hand    of    heaven. 
Was    this    inserted    to    make    interest 

good? 
Or     is     your     gold     and     silver     ewes 

and    rams? 

Shylock: 
I  cannot  tell;  I  make  it  breed  as  fast: 

Adolescent  Economics. 

Magic-Mystery  tinged  Breeder- 
economics  and  vocational  experience 
(misinterpreted)  quite  naturally  re- 
sulted in  Theocracy  and  Theocratic- 
economics;  and  from  Theocracy  the 
course  is  straight,  the  steps  easy  and 
obvious  to  Working-by-proxy  social 
systems  — Privilege-economics  — as 
represented  by  Autocracy,  Aris- 
tocracy,  and   modern    Plutocracy. 

Thus  the  race  has  successively 
adopted  Strength-economics,  Cun- 
ning-economics, and  Cunning-Strong- 
economics;  each  system  appropriate 
to  the  conditions  of  life  and  stage 
of   development,   in    the   past. 

Adult    Economics. 

Today  is  the  day  of  Doer,  Work- 
er, Maker — practical  utilizer  of 
Nature  by  skill  of  hand  and  science- 
taught   brain — the    Mechanic. 

This  is  an  age  of  applied  Science — 
the  utilization  of  Nature's  Laws  and 
forces  —  consequently  the  earlier 
mystic,  predatory,  and  parasitic 
economic  usages  and  conventions  are 
now  antiquated  and  impracticable. 
Hence  they  are  beginning  to  revolt 
our  science-developed  practical  com- 
mon sense,  our  sense  of  propriety, 
and    our    modern    sense    of    justice. 

Furthermore,  it  is  significantly  in 
accord  with  race  experience,  with 
commonsense    and   with    reason    that: 

Those  whose  activities  characterize 
the  times,  must  initiate  and  adminis- 
ter   its    economics. 

So  if  our  Mechanistic  Age,  our 
Democratic    Dispensation    is    not     to 


prove  a  futile  race  experiment,  a 
will-o-thc-wisp  ideal,  we  must  ini- 
tiate Skill-economics,  economics  of 
our  Twentieth  Century  mechanis- 
tically characterized  activities — eco- 
nomics of  the  Scientist,  of  the  Tech- 
nologist, of  the  Mechanic,  on  a 
nationwide  scale,  in  other  words: 
National  Industrial  Management — 
Technocracy. 

Skill     Economics. 

The  Mechanic's  philosophy  as- 
sumes: the  neutral  orderliness  of 
Nature;  personal  freedom;  and  per- 
sonal responsibility  for  the  outcome 
of    his    acts. 

The  Mechanic's  practice  is  based 
upon:  personal  initiative;  self-  reli- 
ance;  and   the  validity  of   experience. 

The  Mechanic's  success  results 
from:  knowledge  of  Nature's  laws; 
experimental  proof;  and  the  elim- 
ination   of    "chance." 

It  is  reasonable,  therefore,  to 
assume  that  upon  these  fundamentals 
also  must  be  framed  our  new  work- 
a-day  Skill-economics,  in  order  to  be 
workable  in  our  work-a-day  Mechan- 
istic   Age. 

As  applied  to  our  present  obso- 
lescent economics  these  principles 
imply: 

Elimination  of  Magic  (as  a  tacitly 
assumed  factor)  in  the  means  and 
methods    of   production. 

Elimination  of  Mystery  from  our 
means  and  methods  of  exchanging 
human  efforts  and  resulting  products. 

Elimination  of  Chance  from  in- 
dustrial  organization   and  distribution. 

Twixt  Devil  and  Deep  Sea. 

Stated  as  generalities,  few  will 
question  the  desirability  of  such 
changes;  for  it  will  readily  be  con- 
ceded that  "chance,"  "mystery,"  and 
"magic"  are  merely  expressions  of 
ignorance  clothed  in  old  and  familiar 
superstitions.  But,  when  one  comes 
truly  to  realize — not  just  verbally 
admit — how  completely  magic,  mys- 
tery, and  chance  are  woven  into  the 
fabric  of  our  modern  life  and 
thought  processes,  then  the  true  sig- 
nificance of  the  propositions  strikes 
the    mind    with    a    sense    of    shock. 

We  are,  indeed,  between  the  devil 
and    the    deep    sea! 

Radically    change   we    must,   or    our 


28 


TECHNOCRACY 


"Civilization"  will  go  the  way  of 
previous  abortive  social  experiments 
— Assyria,  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Greece, 
Rome,    Spain,    and      .     .     .      Europe. 

Bui,  characteristically,  the  huge 
majority  of  us  would  rather  be 
socially  damned  in  the  good  old- 
fashioned  way,  than  accept  social 
salvation  through  radical  change. 
Yet,  if  human  experience  proves  any- 
thing, it  demonstrates  conclusively 
that  irrationality  cannot  persist  in 
the   rational   Order  of  Nature. 

Chuck-a-Luck  Economics. 

Thus  it  will,  perchance,  be  help- 
ful to  indicate  some  implications  of 
the  suggested  eliminations,  by  more 
specific  applications  to  present  social, 
economic  and  financial  customs, 
usages,  and  conventions. 

Birth,  Marriage,  Death,  are  the 
worn  dice  in  our  chuck-a-luck 
economics. 

Birth,  in  surroundings  of  wealth 
or  poverty — on  Fifth  Avenue  or  in 
the  Bowery — decides  whether  a  child 
shall  be  a  Master  or  a  Servant,  an 
owner  or  a  slave,  a  nationally  con- 
trolling factor  or  one  of  a  million 
mere  "cogs,"  regardless  of  inherent 
fitness  to  the  "chance"  ordained 
position,  or  to  further  the  aims  of 
the    community. 

Marriage,  under  our  quaint  eco- 
nomic conventions,  decides  into 
whose  hands  shall  be  entrusted 
power  represented  by  vast  accumula- 
tions of  wealth,  regardless  of  the 
chances  that  the  easily  acquired 
wealth  may  be  frivolously  squan- 
dered or  used  adversely  to  national 
purposes. 

Death,  with  sardonic  Irrelevance, 
plays  skittles  with  the  lives  of  the 
living;  for  our  weirdly  jocund  "laws 
of  devise"  empower  dead  hands 
from  the  grave  to  control  thousands 
of    living    men's    activities. 

Makers  and  Takers. 

Under  our  "economic  and  finance 
system"  to  be  born  into  our  Mechan- 
istic Ape  with  mechanical  and  con- 
structive traits — dextrous  hands,  inge- 
nious brain,  and  irresistible  instinctive 
urge  to  do,  to  work,  to  make  the 
things  which  constitute  our  "wealth" — 
is  to  be  fore-doomed  by  "chance"  to 
lifelong  obscurity,  social  impotence, 
and  relative  poverty;  while  to  be  born 


with  instinctive  acquisitive  cunning 
and  insatiable  greed,  is  to  be  elected 
by     "chance"     to     social     distinction, 

ii    and  power. 
Indeed,   it   would   seem,    that   of   all 
the  facts,  circumstances,  and  incidents, 
constituting  present  conditions  of  hu- 

life,  "blind  chance"  has  irration- 
ally been  selected  as  the  controlling 
factor  in  that  antiquated  collection  of 
queer  customs,  quaint  conventions  and 
grotesque  superstitions,  that,  with 
childish  fatuity,  we  call  our  "Science 
of  Economics  and  Finance." 

Magic — Ancient  and  Modern. 

To  gage  the  folly  of  earlier  ages 
by  our  own  advance  is  an  easy  and 
vanity  satisfying  diversion;  to  correct- 
asure  the  ignorance  and  super- 
stition of  our  own  times  is  a  hopeless 
task. 

Thus  we  look  back  with  smiling  con- 
tempt upon  Devil-raising,  Soul- 
selling,  Fountain-of-youth,  Witch's- 
broomstick,  and  other  wondrous  para- 
phernalia of  "Black  Art."  And  yet,  no 
itial  difference  exists  between  the 
old  witchcraft,  by  which  a  "magic  po- 
tion" added  years  to  human  life,  and 
modern  "financial"  black  art  which 
gives  everlasting  life  to  inanimate 
"capital"  and  endows  lifeless  "money" 
with  life's  unique  function — reproduc- 
tion— so  that  "money  makes  money"' 
for  ever  and  ever.  Indeed,  of  the  two 
the  modern  magic  causation  is  the 
more  crudely  illogical  and  unscientific; 
for  while  the  ancient  black  art  only 
purported  to  prolong  life  already  ex- 
isting, modern  financial  magic  pre- 
to  perform  the  still  greater 
miracle  of  infusing  life  into  inanimate 
objects! 

Do  I  seem  to  exaggerate? 

Then  read  what  Economic  High 
Priest  Boehm-Bawerk  says  in  his 
"Capital  and  Interest — A  Critical  His- 
tory of  Economic  Theory";  says  seri- 
ously, supremely  unconscious  that  he 
is  describing  a  crazily  impossible  mir- 
acle— a  miracle,  however,  in  which 
there  is  a  substantially  universal  con- 
sensus  of  ignorant  belief. 

"And  finally  it  (interest)  flows  to 
the  capitalist  without  ever  exhausting 
the  capital  from  which  it  conies,  and 
therefore  without  any  necessary  limit 
to  its  continuance.  It  is,  if  one  may 
use  such  an  expression  about  mundane 
things,   capable   of   an   everlasting   life. 


TECHNOCRACY 


29 


Thus  it  is  that  the  phenomenon  of  in- 
terest as  a  whole  presei 
able  picture  of  a  lifeless  thin 
ing    an    everlasting    and    inexhaustible 
supply  of  goods." 

Was  ever  gross  superstitious  ignor- 
ance or  "black  art"  more  crassly 
at    variance    with    facts  iture's 

Laws  or  the   S 

Mechanics,  than  this  self-filling  "magic 
purse"   of   financial   wizardry? 

Time  Turned  Tailward! 

If    there   is    one    fact   in    human    ex- 
perience,  the  validity  of  which   is 
yond   question,   it   is    that   the    onward 
flow  of  Time  is  non-reversible,  the  fu- 
ture   cannot    help    the   present. 

We  can  change  the  direction  of  mo- 
tion in  i  hings — back  up  a 
horse,  a  train,  or  a  boat,  or  even  in 
some  instances  reverse  the  flow  of  a 
river;  but  to  turn  back  the  inexorable 
forward  march  of  Time  is  unthinkable. 

To  suggest  shooting  the 
with  future  bullets  and  feeding  our 
soldier  boys  with  future  food— substi- 
tuting "future  savings"  (!)  of  future 
generations  tor  present  savings  and 
present  work,  seems — to  a  Mechanic — 
like  the  insane  imaginings  of  a  magic- 
crazed   brain. 

Yet,  these  are  the  stupendous  mir- 
acles which  the  "magic  of  finance"  se- 
riously purports  to  accomplish — for  a 
small  present  consideration. 

Do   I   seem   to   exaggerate? 

Then  read  the  serious  proposal  of 
Financial  Wizard  Frank  A.  Vander- 
lip,  President  of  the  National  City 
Bank  of  New  York. 

"This  war  must  be  financed,  not  out 
of  past  savings,  but  out  of  future  sav- 
ings. Future  savings  are  for  the  mo- 
ment not  available  and  some  other 
device  must  therefore  be  brought  into 
play.  That  device  is  bank  credit,  and 
this  loan  and  subsequent  loans  will  in 
the  main  be  floated  through  an  expan- 
sion  of  credit." 

Truly  human  credulity  is  limitless — 
or  the  day  of  witchcraft  and  miracles 
is    not    past! 

Futilities  of  Magic. 
Never  in  one  solitary  instance,  in  all 
the  hundreds  of  years  and  millions  of 
sacrificial  victims,  did  entrails  of 
slaughtered  animals  foretell  a  future 
happening;  never  did  any  of  the  armies 


of  Devils  and  "familiar  spirits,"  in- 
voked by  magic  incantations,  effect 
arthly  result  which  would  not 
otherwise  have  occurred;  never  was 
solitary  grain  of  gold  transmuted  from 
metal  by  the  magic  of  the 
myriads   of  guaranteed   "Philosopher's 

mir- 
acles  happen — except   in   the   distorted 
s    of    the    simple    ones    who 
ians  for  their  futilities. 
And   the  poor  boobs  who  "paid  the 
piper"    didn't    know    any    more    about 
magic  then,   than   the  average  man   of 
today    who    franl  erts:    "I    don't 

know  a  damned  thing  about  Econom- 
ics and  Finance." 

"Future  Savings"! 
Recalling  practical  warlike  Rome, 
fighting  her  world-conquering  battles 
or  refraining  from  attack  on  the  au- 
gury of  fowl's  entrails;  remembering 
philosophical  Greece  conducting  her 
civil,  military,  and  economic  affairs  up- 
on the  assumed  guidance  of  similar 
irrationalities;  not  forgetting  that  in 
comparatively  recent  times,  by  "sell- 
ing indulgences," — dealing  in  "future 
savings,"  "treasures  in  heaven,"  i.  e., 
"floating  (super-mundane)  credit" — 
and  by  commerce  in  other  optimistic 
and  supposititious  commodities,  "the 
Church"  acquired  legal  ownership  to 
over  half  of  the  land  and  wealth  of 
England;  not  overlooking  the  fact  that 
by  similar  supposititious  means  mod- 
ernized, the  Mormon  Church  of  the 
Latter  Day  Saints  has  become  one  of 
the  wealthiest  and 'socially  most  pow- 
erful capitalistic  corporations  in  our 
midst  today;  calmly  and  dispassionate- 
ly turning  these  facts  over  in  the 
mind,  causes  one  to  pause  and  reflect. 
Indeed,  mentally  reviewing  this  ages 
long  and  unquestionable  historical  ev- 
idence, one — embued  with  modern 
scientific  notions — begins  to  wonder. 

Questions  and  Doubts. 

One  wonders  how  "dollars"  or 
"debts"  can  be  magically  endowed 
with   life? 

How  magically  endowed  with  "ever- 
lasting life?" 

How  magically  endowed  with  the 
capability  of  unending  reproduction? 
— "a  lifeless  thing  producing  an  ever- 
lasting and  inexhaustible  supply  of 
goods." 


30 


TECHNOCRACY 


And  thus  wondering,  one  questions 
and  doubts.     .     .     . 

Can  it  be  that  the  "miracles  of  fi- 
nance" and  the  "magic  of  credit"  are 
of  a  piece  with  the  ancient  miracles  and 
magic? — only,  (in  keeping  with  the 
h.  c.  1.)  gone  up  in  cost  to  the  simple 
ones  who  pay  for  the  "miraculous" 
performances. 

But  what  a  cost! 

Distribution. 

Science  and  Mechanics  have  multi- 
plied manifold  the  productive  effect  of 
human  effort  during  the  past  century, 
so  that  the  resulting  products  and  in- 
strumentalities of  production  have  in- 
creased in  like  ratio. 

So  the  question  naturally  arises  as 
to  what  disposition  has  been  made 
of  this  great  aggregation  of  National 
Commissariat  Stores  in  the  United 
States  under  our  alleged  "economic" 
system? 

How  have  the  "Financiers" — our 
book-keepers — kept  tab  on  the  "debits 
and  credits"? 

How  have  they  (numerically  less 
than  one  per  cent)  distributed  this 
product  of  the  combined  work  of  the 
twenty  million  families  that,  in  round 
numbers,  constitute  (the  other  ninety- 
nine  per  cent  of   )the  population? 

The   Balance   Sheet. 

In  round  numbers  the  books  show: 
$250,000,000,000— "wealth" ; 
$70,000,000,000— gross  "profits";   di- 
vided:— 

$50,000,000,000— "income"  to  the 
book-keepers; 

$20.000,000,000— "wage"  to  the  fam- 
ilies; 

$1,000 — average  family  "wage." 
Thus  the  balance  sheet  shows  that 
the  self-selected  and  socially  irrespon- 
sible score-keepers — the  "Financiers" 
— have  apportioned  the  gross  yearly 
"profits"  of  the  United  States  National 
Industrial  Enterprise  in  the  ratio  of 
five-sevenths  to  themselves  and  two- 
sevenths   to   the  20   million   families. 

"Business"  and  Instincts. 

In  the  jargon  of  "Business,"  "the 
Financiers"  "charge"  fifty  billion  dol- 
lars ($50,000,000,000)  yearly  for  "fi- 
nanciering" the  United  States. 

That  is  to  say:  "The  Interests"  as- 
sess  the   People   of  the   United   States 


fifty  billion  dollars  ($50,000,000,000) 
"interest"  tribute  yearly,  in  perpetuity, 
for  permitting  the  people  the  privilege 
of  practicing  national  honest}- — and 
for  the  magic  of  (mysteriously  con- 
ventionalized) "Credit." 

In  other  words:  "The  Capitalists" 
tax  the  People  of  the  United  States 
fifty  billion  dollars  ($50,000,000,000) 
yearly  for  permitting  the  People  the 
privilege  of  utilizing  the  Nation's  hu- 
man and  other  natural  resources — and 
for   (the  miracles  of)   "Capitalization." 

In  simple  terms  of  human  instincts: 
The  Instinctive  Takers  take  the  In- 
stinctive Makers'  makings  for  permitt- 
ing the  Makers  to  make  the  Nation's 
natural  raw  materials  into  desirable 
commodities. 

Feeding  and  Breeding. 

The  families  must,  of  course,  be 
fed  and  clothed  and  housed,  and  the 
children  schooled, — or  the  supply  of 
Makers  would  soon  peter  out. 

For  these  unavoidable  necessities 
the  "Financiers"  allow,  on  an  average, 
a  thousand  dollars  a  year  per  family; 
a  "bare  living  wage"  in  exchange  for 
a  whole  year  of  the  brief  work-life 
(of  twenty  odd  years),  for  life-energy 
irrecoverably  used  up  in  making  the 
wealth;  wealth  out  of  which  bare  sus- 
tenance is  all  that  goes  to  its  Makers. 

Worse  and  More  of  It. 

Nor  is  this  all,  nor  the  worst. 

It  deals  with  things  only,  now  in 
existence.  And  it  refers  to  an  appor- 
tionment of  the  gross  "profits"  ar- 
rived at  (more  or  less)  by  our  own 
consent. 

But, — by  the  wondrous  working  of 
"Credit" — the  "Financiers"  have  vir- 
tually pawned  (in  their  own  pawn 
shop)   the  whole  Industrial  World! 

The  "Financiers"  have  placed  a  per- 
petual mortgage  plaster  of  at  least  one 
thousand  billion  dollars  ($1,000,000,- 
000,000)  on  the  work  and  products  of 
unborn  generations  of  the  hundred 
million  families  constituting  the 
"White    World." 

The  "Financiers"  have  chained  thus 
a  $10,000  debt,  paying  "interest"  trib- 
ute of  $2.00  per  day  (for  ever)  upon 
the  back  of  each  and  every  family  in 
the  "civilized  world" — a  perpetual 
thraldom  of  debt;  debt  secured  by 
"Bonds,"    by    "Mortgage,"    by    "Capi- 


TECHNOCRACY 


31 


talization"  and  by  "National  Debt" 
conventions. 

The  "Financiers"  have  thus  placed 
this  huge  mortgage  debt  (in  perpet- 
uity) upon  future  generations  with- 
out their  consent — the  most  stupend- 
ous case  of  tyrannous  "taxation  with- 
out representation"  in  all  the  dark 
ages  long  tragic  experience  of  long 
suffering    humanity. 

What  petty  "Pikers"  were  the  Shy- 
locks  of  old  Nchcmiah's  day  compared 
to  our   .     .     .    our    .     .     .   "Financiers"^. 

Crowning  Paradox. 

Poverty  is  the  opposite  of  riches; 
debt  the  negation  of  wealth;  bank- 
ruptcy the  reverse  of  solvency;  they 
are  antithetical — the  plus  and  minus 
signs  of  human  interaction  in  the 
world  of  "Business." 

A  modern  man,  by  the  aid  of  scienti- 
fic and  mechanistic  instrumentalities, 
accomplishes  more  today  than  one-, 
two-,  and  in  some  cases  ten-score  men 
of  a  hundred  years  ago;  so,  despite 
war  and  every  other  destructive 
agency,  production  outstrips  bare 
need  today  as  at  no  time   in  the  past. 

The  world  is  constantly  increasing 
its  total  products. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  these  facts, 
the  richer  the  world  grows,  the  more 
it  owes — both  relatively  and  actually; 
the  greater  its  wealth,  the  deeper  it 
is  plunged  in  debt. 

Thus,  under  the  regime  of  capitalis- 
tic "High  Finance,"  is  achieved  the 
crowning  paradox  of  all  time — the 
acme   of  miraculous  causation: 

The  functions  of  plus  and  minus  are 
reversed;  more  is  less!  The  larger 
a  thing  grows  the  smaller  it  becomes! 
The  more  efficient  men  get,  the  less 
effective  relatively  is  the  outcome! 
The  faster  the  world  cistern  is  filled 
with  wealth  the  more  nearly  empty 
it  is, — the  more  completely  is  the 
White  World  bankrupt!! 

The  ancient  miracle  of  "the 
widow's  cruse"  is  inverted — by  mod- 
ern  Financial  Magic. 

An  Old  Delusion. 

Now  it  is  not  intended  to  impute 
deliberately  dishonest  or  intentionally 
unethical  methods  to  our  Financiers 
and  Capitalists,  under  a  vague  and 
metaphorical  term,  "Magic."  On  the 
contrary,   I   use   the  word  "magic"   in 


its  ordinary  meaning  —  supernatural 
effects. 

I  am  convinced  that  the  great  ma- 
jority of  us — capitalist  and  laborer 
alike — are  still  obsessed  with  the  fal- 
lacy of  magic  causation;  an  ancient 
delusion  that  has  dominated  men's 
minds  and  befogged  their  thinking 
from  the  very  beginning  of  man's 
efforts  to  explain  the  causes  of  un- 
usual   happenings. 

"Magic"  is  the  oldest  and  easiest 
way  to  account  for  strange  things, 
and  still  holds  its  ancient  sway  over 
men's  minds  outside  the  laboratory 
of  the  scientist  and  the  workshop  of 
the    mechanic. 

Elimination  of  this  fallacy  as  a  con- 
trolling factor  in  the  distribution  of 
products — wealth — is  a  necessary  step 
toward  a  rationally  workable  eco- 
nomic system;  a  system  adapted  to 
20th  Century  life  and  the  mental  at- 
titude of  our  science-made  Mecha- 
nistic   Age. 

Mystery. 

"Chance"  implies  insufficient  knowl- 
edge of   causes. 

"Magic"  implies  misinterpretation 
of  causes. 

"Mystery"  implies  inherent  un- 
knowableness    of    causes. 

While  increasing  knowledge  tends 
ever  toward  minimizing  the  "chance" 
element  and  lessening  of  "magic" 
errors,  mystery  presents  a  different 
problem. 

The  laboratory,  or  the  factory,  or 
the  workshop,  or  the  countinghouse, 
is  no  place  for  "mystery,"  for  to 
the  workers  therein  mystery  means 
ignorance — lack  of  intelligence.  In 
human  life  at  large,  it  is  quite  other- 
wise as  concerns  the  essential  All- 
inclusive  Mystery  and  religious  mys- 
ticism. This  is  a  fact  of  profound 
significance  in  relation  to  the  larger 
aspect    of    our    "Social    Problem." 

Our  new  Skill  Economics,  there- 
fore, may  not  discourage  man's  in- 
nate love  of  mystery, — his  inborn  re- 
ligious spirituality  —  nor  curb  the 
spirit  which  tempts  him  to  adventure 
courageously  into  the  unknown;  but 
instead  should  provide  advantageous 
scope    for    its    personal    expression. 

But — as  in  the  machine  shop — 
"mystery"  is  out  of  place  in  finance; 
out   of   place   because   the  function   of 


32 


TECHNOCRACY 


"money"  in  an  economic  system  cor- 
responds to  the  purposes  of  checks 
and  gauges,  templets  and  measuring 
instruments  of  the  technologist  and 
the   mechanical    constructor. 

The  essentials  of  such  devices  are 
accuracy,  certainty,  invariability — the 
antitheses  of  the  qualities  of  mys- 
tery. 

Yet  in  no  branch  of  human  activity 
are  its  measuring  devices  so  incon- 
sistent, contradictory,  inaccurate;  so 
mysteriously  variable,  so  subject  to 
anti-social  self-interested  control  as 
are  those,  of  the  Financier — his  twin 
mysteries,  "Money"  and  "Credit." 
Our    Queer    Dollar. 

One  of  the  many  quaint  functions 
of  the  dollar  is  that  of  a  "standard 
of  value."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no 
one  knows  or  can  determine  from 
moment  to  moment,  what  is  the 
value  of  a  dollar.  We  only  know 
that  its  worth  is  diminishing,  vari- 
ously,   to   the   vanishing   point. 

Neither  the  Nation  nor  the  Mone- 
tary Experts,  nor  the  Professors  of 
Economics,  nor  the  Financiers,  nor 
the  Interests,  nor  the  Capitalists,  nor 
the  Common  Man,  have  ever  suc- 
ceeded in  fixing  our  "standard  of 
value" — standardizing  the  value  of 
our  "standard  of  value" — the  worth 
of  our   Dollar. 

Mr.  Worker  contends  that  the  con- 
traction of  the  dollar  is  due  to  ex- 
pansion in  the  cost  of  living;  so  he 
strikes  for  more  dollars,  and  effects 
another  shrink.  Mr.  Trader  says  the 
contraction  is  due  to  the  expansion 
of  wages;  so  he  boosts  up  the  price 
of  products,  and  effects  still  another 
contraction.  And  so  on  and  on,  and 
the   end   is   not  yet! 

Indeed,  there  are  as  many  different 
explanations  of  this  mysterious 
"spooky"  phenomenon  in  our 
"Standard"  almost  as  there  are  ex- 
plainers— and  their  number  is  legion. 
An  Elastic  Foot  Rule! 

If  our  foot-rule  were  subject  to 
similar  mysterious  fluctuations,  its 
length  would  have  shrunk  to  four 
inches  or  so  (!)  in  the  past  five  years, 
with  innumerable  variations  from 
time  to  time. 

Imagine  the  chaos,  had  such  a  mys- 
teriously   variable    standard    of    mea- 


surement been  used  in  the  machine 
shop! 

The  stress  of  War  conditions  has 
so  completely  demonstrated  the  in- 
utility of  our  mysteriously  elastic  so- 
called  "standard  of  value  and  medium 
of  exchange"  that  it  is  now  virtually 
in  the  discard, — stacked  up  uselessly 
in  private  and  in  national  treasury 
vaults. 

Our  alleged  "standard  of  value  and 
medium  of  exchange"  never  was  a 
standard  of  value,  and  now  it  is  not 
even  a  medium  of  exchange.  Quaint, 
but  true! 

A  practically  costless,  hence  un- 
varying, "medium  of  exchange" — a 
one-function  money — is  another  much 
needed  step  toward  a  rational  eco- 
nomic system. 

Credit. 

But  if  our  money  is  a  mysterious 
commodity,  what  shall  be  said  of 
"Credit"? 

"Money" — i.e.,  "gold  coin  of  the 
United  States  of  the  present  standard 
of  weight  and  fineness" — even  though 
lacking  in  practical  utility,  is  at  least 
a  physical  commodity.  It  occupies 
space  (however  uselessly) ;  it  has 
color,  weight,  length,  breadth  and 
thickness, — it  possesses  physical  char- 
acteristics easily  determinable  by 
scientific  tests. 

Not  one  of  these  facts  is  applicable 
to    "Credit." 

"Credit"  is  a  state  of  mind,  a 
psychological  condition — hypnosis — a 
mesmeric  dream.  Naturally  it  lacks 
all  the  qualities  of  physical  things, 
and  possesses  all  those  of  phan- 
tasms. A  man  dreams  he  is  wealthy, 
and — for  all  dream  purposes — he  is 
wealthy;  even  though  in  actual  fact 
he  is  dying  of  starvation  in  squalor 
and  want. 

So  too,  in  like  manner,  a  nation 
dreams  itself  some  (or  many)  billions 
of  additional  wealth;  sets  the  print- 
ing presses  going  to  record  the 
dream — in  "bonds";  and  forthwith 
becomes  billions  wealthier  (in  its 
mind),  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  physical  wealth  may  have  shrunk 
to  the  danger  point  of  general  in- 
digence   and    starvation. 

This  is  the  danger-fraught  "World 
condition"    today. 


TECHNOCRACY 


33 


Boundless  Credit  Wealth 

Seemingly  human  stupidity  is  lim- 
itless and  human  credulity  infinite! 
This  boundless,  unweighable,  unmea- 
surable,  hope-created  dream-stuff 
("Credit")  is  sliced  and  apportioned, 
like  beef  or  butter,  and  sold  in  the 
market  place. by  self-appointed  pur- 
veyors of  public  optimism. 

Yes!  Sold  and  exchanged  for  the 
limited,  measurable,  physical  prod- 
ucts of  sweaty  and  grimy  toil  and 
strenuous    human    effort. 

Like  all  other  dreams  and  dream- 
stuff.  "Credit"  visions  know  no 
bounds  but  those  of  desire.  Millions 
or  billions  or  scores  of  billions — it's 
all  the  same  in  the  wonderland 
dreamworld  of  "Finance":  wish  them 
and  dream  them,  and  presto!  they 
exist.  They  exist:  dream  ships, 
dream  cannons,  dream  food — irides- 
cent wealth  bubbles  blown  up  and 
"floated  through  an  expansion  of 
credit,"  as  proposed  by  Finance  Wiz- 
ard  Vanderlip. 

Dream    Wealth. 

It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that 
in  the  wonderland  of  Finance  this 
dreamworld's  dream  wealth  "Credit" 
— as  represented  by  "credit  instru- 
ments," i.  e.,  stocks,  bonds,  mortgages, 
national  debts,  etc. — transcends  great- 
ly the  workaday  world's  physical 
utilities — real  wealth. 

But  what  is  going  to  happen  when 
we  are  jolted  awake  to  the  rationality 
of  workaday  reality,  and  dream 
visions  vanish;  when  the  airy 
floating  credit  bubble  bursts — as  bub- 
bles do?  When  Germany  and  Austria 
follow  Russia's  (Bolshevik)  example, 
and  France  follows  Germany,  and 
then   England,  and  then     .     .     .      ? 

Then  what? 

When  this  happens,  the  world  will 
discard  the  silly  delusion  that  time  is 
reversible  by  financial  magic — credit; 
"credit,"  the  greatest  of  all  myths  and 
magic  makebelieves  by  which  cunning 
men  in  all  ages  have  sought  to  get 
something  for  nothing. 

In  all  the  historically  recorded  cases 
of  collective  human  delusions — from 
practical  Rome's  entrail  augury  to 
shrewd  Yankee  Salem's  witchcraft — 
there  is  none  which  surpasses,  in  col- 
lective crass  credulity,  our  great  Credit 
Myth! 


A  national  (non-tribute)  bookkeep- 
ing system  equitably  to  determine  real 
ownership  of  the  products  of  effort, 
is  a  much  needed  economic  conven- 
ience. 

Experimental    Science. 

It  would  seem  that  with  the  advent 
of  Experimental  Science  occurred  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  our  Race;  an 
epochal  event  to  which  none  other 
is  comparable,  except  possibly  the  ac- 
quisition of  Self-consciousness  itself. 
Indeed  it  would  seem  that  these  two 
super-significant  events — so  unthink- 
ably  far  apart  in  time — are,  in  essence, 
closely  related. 

By  coming  to  Self-consciousness 
the  Brute  became  Man — potentially, 
though  not  actually,  a  self-determining 
being. 

By  the  coming  of  Science — based 
upon  the  idea  of  the  rationality  and 
neutrality  of  "nature" — potential  Free- 
dom ceased  to  be  a  mere  possibility 
and  became  a  realizable  Ideal. 
To  Make  or  Break  Shackles. 

Science  and  Technology  are,  how- 
ever, but  tools  in  Man's  hands;  tools 
wherewith  to  make  effective  Man's 
transcendent  privilege:  Freedom  of 
Choice. 

Groups  of  men  (like  Germany)  may 
use  these  great  instrumentalities  to 
forge  social  shackles  upon  themselves, 
and  upon  Humanity  the  bondage  of 
autocracy. 

Or,  they  may  use  them  to  make  hu- 
man Liberty  effective,  as  is  the  ideal 
of  the  United  States. 

Human  beings,  whether  as  individ- 
uals, or  as  groups,  or  as  nations,  are 
"free"  —  self-determining  —  only  when 
purposively  initiative;  for  it  is  only 
in  purposive  action  that  liberty  can  be 
expressed. 

Freedom,  then,  means  will  to  intelli- 
gent       self-expression  —  liberty        ex- 
pressed in   rational  accomplishment. 
"Reconstruction." 

On  all  the  foregoing  considerations, 
our  problem  of  "Social  Reconstruc- 
tion" on  a  scientific  basis  implies  sys- 
tematizing our  great  but  inchoate  Na- 
tion upon  economic  principles  appro- 
priate to  an  Industrial  Democracy. 

The  basis  of  modern  industry  being 
scientific  knowledge  of  nature's  laws 
whereby  nature's  resources  are  made 
available    for    human    use    and    enjoy- 


34 


TECHNOCRACY 


mint  through  the  aid  and  agency  of 
technical  skill,  "Reconstruction"  be- 
comes essentially  a  process  of  selec- 
tive rejection  of  present  inappropriate 
economic  usages;  discarding  customs 
which  unduly  facilitate  the  acquisitive 
instincts,  and  substituting  others 
which  tend  to  minimize  social  ob- 
stacles to  the  freer  expression  of  the 
constructive  or  industrial  instincts — 
in   the  interest   of  the   commonweal. 

As  industrial  processes  involve  spe- 
cialized skill  and  expert  technical 
training,  made  effective  by  intelligent 
co-ordination,  it  is  clear  that  a  hu- 
manly efficient  Industrial  Democracy 
necessitates  leadership  by  those  who 
possess  the  requisite  knowledge,  skill, 
and  technical   training. 

So,  when  we  speak  of  Industrial  De- 
mocracy, what  we  really  mean  is: 
Nation-wide  Industry  managed  by 
Technologists — a  Nation  of  free  and 
socially  equal  workers,  scientifically 
organized  for  mutual  benefit  and  uni- 
fied  purpose — a  Technocracy. 

Suggestions. 

By  way  of  summary,  a  few  of  the 
more  obviously  inappropriate  present 
usages  which,  seemingly  with  advan- 
tage, we  might  consign  to  the  limbo 
of  outworn  social  expedients,  here  fol- 
low: 

(I)  Discard  usages  founded  on  the 
autocratic  idea  of  "the   State"; 

Substitute  therefor — in  fact  as  well 
as  in  theory — others  resting  upon  the 
self-evident  right  of  a  man  to  inalien- 
able and  complete  ownership  of  him- 
self; hence  (in  effect)  inalienable  own- 
ership of  the  industrial  product  result- 
ing from  the  functioning  of  his  mind 
and  body — limited  only  by  others' 
equal    right. 

(II)  Discard  conventions  resting 
upon  the  parasitic  idea  that  (legal) 
possession  is  equivalent  to  production: 

Substitute  natural  ownership  based 
on  making  for  conventions  that  legal- 
ize taking. 

(III)  Discard  institutions  legaliz- 
ing "chance"  as  a  controlling  factor 
for  the  distribution  of  things; 

Substitute  therefor  collective  fore- 
sight based  upon  experience;  and  hu- 
man need  for  instinctive  animal  greed 
— in   the  interest  of  the   commonweal. 

(IV)  Discard  "financial  magic" 
practices  resting  upon  the  animistic 
fallacy  that  inanimate  objects  can  (by 


convention)     be    endowed    with    life's 
unique    function — reproduction  ; 

Substitute  others  on  the  evidential 
fact  that  only  human  beings  can  make 
usefully  available  the  things  we  call 
"wealth." 

(V)  Discard  the  "mysteries  of  fi- 
nance" in  wealth  distributing  pro- 
cesses— the  private  purveying  of  pub- 
lic optimism  for  gain  and  the  "man- 
ufacture of  credit"  for  sale; 

Substitute  therefor  a  community 
(national)  bookkeeping  system,  in 
which  figures  clearly  tell  what  each 
individual  and  each  group  has  added 
to  the  common  stock. 

(VI)  Discard  institutions  resting 
upon  the  erroneous  notion  that  con- 
ventional symbols,  i.  e.,  "representa- 
tives" of  wealth,  "bonds,"  "credit," 
"capital,"  etc. — are  equivalent  to  and 
can  perform  the  functions  of  the  in- 
strumentalities they  "represent,"  and 
can  continue  so  to  function  long  after 
the  instrumentalities  have  ceased  to 
exist   or  have  become   obsolete; 

Substitute  others  making  the  use- 
rent  of  things,  i.  e.  "usury,"  "interest," 
correspond  to  and  be  contingent  upon 
the  effective  worth  and  the  continued 
usefulness  of  the  things  rented. 

(VII)  Discard  customs  based  upon 
mystic  symbolism  and  the  animistic 
fallacy  that  "money"  can  perform  the 
functions  of  the  life-energy  or  pro- 
ducts  "represented"; 

Substitute  a  costless  one-function 
national  check  medium  of  exchange. 

(VIII)  Discard  "business"  practices 
based  upon  the  anti-social  dictum 
that:  "one  man's  misfortune  is  an- 
other's opportunity"; 

Substitute  therefor  the  proposition 
that:  the  illhaps  of  unavoidable  social 
hazards  and  chance  favors  of  good 
fortune  should  (in  social  effect)  be 
equally  shared  by  all. 

(IX)  Discard  all  institutions  and 
conventions  facilitating  the  function- 
ing of  anti-social  predatory  and  para- 
sitic instincts; 

Substitute  others  tending  to  en- 
courage willing  self-interested  co- 
operation energized  by  national  unity 
of  purpose. 

(X)  Discard  the  strife  inducing  in- 
stitutions of  group  industries  based 
upon  the  hunger-slavery  idea  of  em- 
ployer and  employee  organized  for 
mechanistic  human  efficiency  in  output 
of  products  for  purely  private  profit; 


TECHNOCRACY 


35 


Substitute  others  based  upon  ra- 
tional human  initiative  and  develop- 
ment with  the  aid  of  all  the  resources 
of  the  Nation,  co-ordinated  for  the 
commonweal  under  the  management 
of  Scientific  Leadership  to  accomplish 
a  consensus  National  Objective. 
Save  Civilization! 

Whether  these  proposed  changes 
arc  effectively  workable  or  are  only 
"visionary,"  "impracticable,"  "Utopian 
dreams,"  is,  of  course,  debatable;  but 
there  can  be  no  question  regarding 
the  truth  of  the  solemn  warning  of 
Lloyd  George:  "Civilization,  unless  we 
try  to  save  it,  may  be  precipitated 
and   scattered   to  atoms." 

Responsibility. 

That  our  Civilization  is  in  danger  of 
being  "shattered  to  atoms,"  raises  the 
question  of  culpability  for  the  present 
ominous  state  of  affairs,  and  hence 
of  responsibility  for  averting  the 
threatened   outcome. 

The  Masses  cannot  be  held  respon- 
sible, for  they  are  simply  impelled  by 
their  instinct  "to  live";  they  do  not 
think,  they  do  what  is  much  more  im- 
portant: they  breed.  Their  magnifi- 
cent all-inclusive  social  function  is  re- 
production. Hence,  they  feel — feel 
hunger,  feel  passion — they  feel  with 
all  the  vital  energy  of  the  race. 

Thus,  when  social  conditions  be- 
come unbearable  or  threaten  their  vital 
function,  they  reflex  with  unrestrained 
ferocity  against  such  conventional  re- 
straints to  the  natural  expression  of 
their  instinctive  urges. 

The  Skilled  Artisans  cannot  be  held 
responsible,  for  they  are  merely  obey- 
ing the  instinct  "to  make."  Their 
mental  activity  is  analogous  to — and 
for  the  same  social  purpose  as — the 
cycle  of  brain  functioning  that  pro- 
duces the  mathematical  cell  of  the  bee, 
the  carpentry  of  the  beaver,  and  the 
nest  building  of  the  bird. 

The  Employers  cannot  be  held  re- 
sponsible, for  they  only  express  the 
instinct  "to  control,"  the  Mastery  in- 
stinct— an  urge  which  could  not  be 
satisfied  unless  others  willingly  sub- 
mitted to  domination.  Their  social 
function  is  to  energize — to  counteract 
human  inertia — for  the  preservation 
of  the  Race. 

The  Financiers  cannot  be  held  re- 
sponsible, for  they  only  reflex  the  in- 
stinct   "to    take,"    the    urge    to    hoard, 


like — and  for  the  same  social  pur- 
pose as — the  hoarding  of  the  squir- 
rel or  the  honey  storing  of  the  bee. 
They  probably  are  least  imaginative 
of  all.  Their  social  function  is  con- 
servation, the  converse  of  progressive 
theorizing. 

Typically,  none  of  these  social  ele- 
ments think;  think  in  the  sense  of  the 
imaginative  pioneer  theorizing  of  cre- 
ative thought — seeking  for  truth  apart 
from  its  immediate  application  to  self- 
preservation — searching  with  spiritual 
insight  for  paths  into  the  unknown  to 
be  later  trod  by  careless  earth-bound 
feet. 

The  Scientist  is  in  a  different  cate- 
gory. Characteristically  he  lack>  the 
instinctive  urges  which  distinguish  the 
other  elements  of  human  society. 

But,  it  is  his  social  function,  to  think. 

He  does  think — he  has  functioned 
with  a  vengeance! 

One  of  the  results  of  his  high- 
pressure  thinking  is  that:  "Civilization 
may  be  shattered  to  atoms" — or  Hu- 
manity raised  to  Godlike  heights,  by 
Science. 

While  it  is  quite  questionable 
whether  Science,  so  far,  has  proved  a 
blessing  or  a  curse  to  Humanity, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  its  poten- 
tialities in  either  direction  are  limit- 
less. Praiseworthy  or  culpable,  as  the 
case  now  stands,  responsibility  for  the 
outcome  rests  squarely  upon  the 
shoulders   of  the   Scientist. 

National  Leadership. 

Notwithstanding  appearances  to  the 
contrary — popular  unrest,  growth  of 
socialism,  spread  of  I.  W.  W.-ism, 
the  whirlwind  of  Bolshevism  and 
other  terrifying  upsurgings  of  de- 
structive Massism — the  "Masses"  do 
not  desire  to  lead,  do  not  seek  "pro- 
letarian   dictatorship." 

Human  herds  have  always  followed 
leaders,  like  other  gregarious  animals - 
followed  their  leaders  willingly,  blind- 
ly,  thoughtlessly. 

The  herd  will  follow  till  following 
becomes  vitally  dangerous,  threatens 
its  social  life — hinders  the  normal 
functioning  of  its  instinctive  urges  to 
growth   and  reproduction. 

Nations  have  followed  the  leader- 
ship of  Autocracy  till  starved  white 
by  plundering  conventions  or  bled 
white   by  wars. 

Nations  have  followed  the  leader- 
ship     of      Theocratic      Mystics      into 


36 


TECHNOCRACY 


mental  chaos,  and  confusion  of  human 
ideals   and   social   purpose. 

And  we  today,  with  sheeplike  docility, 
have  followed  Plutocratic  leadership 
into  a  social  morass  of  crazy  financial 
conventions,  till  the  raising  of  families 
has  become  an  unbearable  burden,  an 
impossible  social  handicap;  till  the 
opportunity  to  work  is  a  dubious 
privilege;  till  the  future  of  the  worker 
and  breeder — the  proletarian — offers 
only  a  soul  shriveling  bondage  of  de- 
basing   and    inescapable    debt! 

Modern  Manhood's   Mandate. 

The  present  "World  condition" 
means  only  that  the  proletariat  has 
balked,  revolted,  at  this  sordid  threat 
to  the  sanity  and  the  sanctity  of 
Human  existence. 

The  "World  condition"  is  a  World 
Cry! — a  cry  not  for  Proletarian  Dic- 
tatorship, nor  for  Mob  Rule,  but  tor 
new  Leaders. 

The  World  demands  new  Leaders! 
Not  new  and  more  "efficient"  slave 
drivers — Trust  Barons,  or  Kings  of 
Commerce,  or   Emperors  of  Finance. 

The  Modern  World  demands  mod- 
ern Leaders,  Men!  Men  with  ideas 
that  rise  higher  than  swapping  jack- 
knives — even  in  carload  or  shipload 
lots. 

The  "World  condition"  expresses 
this  demand  by  modern  men  for  mod- 
ern leaders,  leaders  with  modern  spir- 
itualized   ideals. 

Our  "Social  Unrest"  is  a  demand  for 
torch-bearers  and  pathfinders  to  social 
freedom  of  opportunity;  a  demand  for 
leaders  with  luminous  imagination  to 
visualize  our  War-born  Nation's  de- 
sired Peace  Goal;  leaders  with  scien- 
tific knowledge  to  realize  and  actualize 
the  rational  aspirations,  ambitions, 
and  ideals  of  free  modern  American 
Manhoood. 

Scientist 

vs. 

Auto-,   Theo-,   and   Pluto-crat 

While  the  Autocrat,  the  Theocrat, 
and  the  Plutocrat,  are  decadent 
products  of  outworn  ways  and  obso- 
lescent materialistic  manners  of  think- 
ing, the  Scientist,  on  the  contrary,  is 
the  most  modern  development  of 
modern  intelligence,  modern  ideals, 
and  modern  spiritualized  modes  of 
thought. 

Fernwald,   Berkeley,   March  20,  1919. 


The  Scientist  is  essentially  a  pioneer, 
a  pathfinder,  a  torch  bearer,  a  seeker 
after  Truth  and   Rationality. 

The  Scientist  is  the  modern  re- 
ligionist,  the   priest  of   selfless   Truth: 

Truth  which  grows  with  Man's 
growth  and  luminously  emerges  with 
the    purifying   of   human    Intelligence: 

Truth — that  all-inclusive  Something 
behind  the  physical  facts  of  nature 
which  makes  for  Right — for  mechan- 
ical, for  personal,  for  ethical,  for 
spiritual,  for  social  righteousness — the 
ultimate    Unifying    Ideal. 

Truly,  "the  stone  which  the  builders 
rejected  is  become  the  head  of  the 
corner":  the  keystone  of  the  social 
arch. 

Rational  Leadership. 

The  Scientist  is,  seemingly,  our  one 
best,  if  not  our  only  hope  for  Rational 
Leadership. 

Then,  too,  the  Scientist — by  un- 
leashing the  limitlessly  powerful  nat- 
ural forces,  in  uncoordinated,  haphaz- 
ard science  -  made  instrumentalities — 
has  got  us  into  much  of  our  present 
social   muddle. 

So  it  is  up  to  the  Scientist  to  lead 
us  out;  or  at  least,  to  harness  for 
human  service  the  science-created 
non-moral  mechanistic  monster  that 
he    has   liberated. 

Guideless  and  Aimless! 

But  if  the  Scientist  shirks  this  great 
task,  if  he  lacks  the  desire  for,  or 
the  courage  of,  or  the  will  to  Leader- 
ship; if  for  any  reason  he  evades  this 
obvious  responsibility,  or  is  daunted 
by  its  obvious  difficulties  .  .  .  then 
indeed,  blindly  plunging  deviously  on- 
ward— guideless  and  aimless — "our 
Civilization  may  be  precipitated  and 
shattered  to  atoms,"  and  our  Indus- 
trial Democracy  adventure  prove  a 
World  Tragedy. 

Yes!  the  most  pathetic  of  all  human 
tragedies — futility. 

Lacking:     Purpose. 

Our  Nation  of  great  expectations, 
of  magnificently  vague  hopes  and  stu- 
pendous possibilities,  (if  nothing 
worse  happens),  will  slump  into  futile 
pottering  desuetude,  lacking  inspiring 
purpose  to  live  for,  lacking  worthy 
achievement  to  work  for,  lacking 
worthwhile  goal  to  strive  for,  lacking 
— a    Great    National    Objective. 


Reprinted    from    the    Gazette,    Berkeley,    California. 
Copyright,   1921,  by  W.   H.   Smyth 

Technocracy 

Second  Series 

PART  I. 

Magic  Money,  Money  Magic  and  the  Magician ; 

The  Payers  and  —  the  Fading  Smile. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

FOREWORD. 
University  of  California, 
Department  of  Philosophy, 

I  have  read  with  keen  interest  this  series  of  discussions  on  "Technoc- 
racy." They  constitute  an  interesting  and  incisive  analysis  of  some  im- 
portant factors  of  our  present  day  society.  One  need  not  agree  with  all 
of  the  author's  comments  and  conclusions,  but  the  spirit  of  his  inquiry, 
and  the  serious  attempt  to  be  scientific  and  analytical  will  impress  every 
thoughtful   reader. 

G.    P.    ADAMS. 

(George  Plimpton  Adams,  Ph.D.,  is  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the 
University   of   California.) 

Note:  The  First  Series  of  Technocracy  outlines  a  program  of  social  recon- 
struction under  the  guidance  of  nationally  organized  Science.  The  Second 
Series  develops,  in  simple  language  and  with  common  examples,  the  working 
method,  the  ways  and  means  proposed  by  the  author  for  attaining  such  social 
order  and  contentment,  and  thus  destroying  the  peril  of  revolution. 

In  Part  I  Mr.  Smyth  sets  forth  the  antagonism,  in  our  society,  of  ancestral 
superstition,  obvious  in  economics,  notably  effective  in  finance,  as  against  the 
modern  point  of  view,  enforced  by  Science  and  our  every-day-life  familiarity 
with  and  dependence  on  machines  and  machine  processes — with  the  resulting 
social  tension  accumulating  to  the  breaking  strain. — Editor. 

Mechanics  and  Economics.  prehension  and  understandable  to  or- 

Mechanics       deals      with       things—  dinary   intelligence, 

things  governed  by  unchangeable  and  "Economics"  and  "Finance,"  to  Mr. 

unchanging  Laws  of  Nature.     The  ba-  Average    Man,    seem    realms    of    pro- 

sic    facts   and    principles    of    Mechanic  found  impenetrable  mystery  governed 

Arts  have  passed  out  of  the  region  of  by   occult   forces, 

doubt  or  controversy — they  are  firmly  T       „  ,      .   -rvrr^ 

founded  upon   the  proofs  of  scientific  Important  Difference. 

experiment.  The    difference    in    our    mental    atti- 

•    Economics,  on  the  contrary,  is  con-  tude    towards    these    two    departments 

cerned  with   easily   changeable    (man-  of  human   effort,   to  which   I   have   di- 

made)   rules  and  regulations— commu-  rected  attention,  serves  in  part  at  least 

nity  usages   intended   to   facilitate    so-  to    explain    why    it    is    that   we    would 

cial    activities.      Hardly    any    two    an-  unquestioningly  accept    (as   being  bnl- 

thorities    are    agreed    upon    the    basic  hantly    reasonable)    a    proposal    by    a 

"facts"    of    economics,    nor    are    these  "Financier,"     that     with     spontaneous 

"facts"   determinable   by    the    tests    of  scorn  we  would  reject   (as  being  ob- 

experimental  science.  viously  crazy),  if  suggested  by  a  me- 

i-«i     •                /-m           ■  chanic. 

Clarity  and  Obscurity.  it   js   so   easy   to   overlook   the   cus- 

Mechanics  and  machines,  to  Mr.  Av-       tomary   that    this   common    happening 
erage  Man,  are  quite  within  his  com-       is    not    commonly    noted;    nonetheless 

217980 


38 


TECHNOCRACY 


it  is  a  fact  and  social  factor  of  more 
than  ordinary  importance,  for  it 
throws  light  on  social  problems,  upon 
the  solution  of  which  may  depend  our 
escape,  in  the  United  States,  from  the 
condition  of  Europe,  particularly  that 
of   Russia. 

"Future  Savings." 

Obviously  (to  commonsense),  if 
workers  worked  in  future  materials  or 
if  soldiers  shot  at  each  other  with  fu- 
ture bullets,  or  if  both  toilers  and 
fighters  fed  on  future  food,  only  vis- 
ionary products  and  dream  carnage 
could   result. 

So,  should  a  Mechanic  propose  to 
us  an  "invention"  intended  to  enable 
workers,  feeders,  and  fighters  to  fight 
today,  feed  today,  work  today,  and 
jag  today  on  next  year's  or  next  cen- 
tury's materials,  food,  booze,  and  en- 
ergy; we  should  tap  our  foreheads 
significantly,  and  murmur— "Wheels!" 

Let,  however,  Mr.  Financier  make 
the  same  proposition  as  Mr.  (Nuttie) 
Mechanic,  and  we  joyfully  shout — 
"Hurrah!  for  the  Future!";  and  hand 
our  "Wizard  of  Finance"  a  thousand 
billion  dollar  blanket  mortgage  "bond" 
on  the  world,  (i.  e.,  "National  Debts," 
and  intra-national  "credit"  instru- 
ments) paying  Financier  5%  interest 
for   ever — to   "finance   the   enterprise." 

When  a  dapper  and  dextrous  gen- 
tleman, in  evening  costume — with  con- 
vincing evidence  of  "no  deception" — 
produces  ribbons  and  rabbits,  pigeons 
and  poultry,  guinea-pigs  and  goldfish, 
from  a  magic  hat,  we — undeceived — 
smilingly  applaud  his  skill. 

But,  let  Mr.  Financier's  learned  co- 
adjutor Professor  Economicus  solemn- 
ly and  lengthily  discourse  learnedly 
regarding  steaks  and  steamships;  su- 
gar, shoes  and  psychics;  copper  and 
coal;  jags,  joys  and  jimjams;  cotton, 
coaloil,  and  cucumbers;  cabbages  and 
kings,  dollars  and  diamonds,  quantum 
and  quahogs — all  that  heart  of  man 
desires — spontaneously  generated  out 
of  a  magic  hat  of  "future  savings" 
(i.  e.,  mysteriously  conventionalized 
"credit"),  we  listen  in  respectful 
amaze,  and  hopefully  hand  our  petty 
surplus  present  products  to  Mr.  Finan- 
cier— as  a  small  consideration  for  the 
great    and    mysterious    future    benefits 


to  be  conferred  by  his  wondrous   cre- 
ative  art! 

Such  "finance"  and  "economic"  hap- 
penings as  these  are  so  common, 
usual,  everyday  experiences  that  they 
pass  smoothly  by  without  any  awak- 
ening shock  to  our  intelligence;  thus 
they  escape  critical  attention.  None- 
theless from  these  casual  unnoted 
causes  flow  our  social  unrest  and 
world-conflict. 

Magic  Money. 

(a)  "This  war  must  be  financed,  not 
out  of  past  savings  but  out  of  future 
savings.  Future  savings  are  for  the 
moment  not  available  and  some  other 
device  must  therefore  be  brought  into 
play.  That  device  is  bank  credit,  and 
this  loan  and  subsequent  loans  will  in 
the  main  be  floated  through  an  expan- 
sion of  bank  credit." 

Money   Magic. 

(b)  "And,  finally,  it  flows  in  to  the 
capitalist  without  ever  exhausting  the 
capital  from  which  it  comes,  and  there- 
fore without  any  necessary  limit  to  its 
continuance.  It  is,  if  one  may  use 
such  an  expression  about  mundane 
things,  capable  of  an  everlasting  life. 
Thus  it  is  that  the  phenomenon  of  in- 
terest as  a  whole  presents  the  remark- 
able picture  of  a  lifeless  thing  produc- 
ing an  everlasting  and  inexhaustible 
supply  of  goods." 

"Economics"  vs.  Horsesense. 

Quotation  (a)  is  the  considered  pro- 
nouncement of  a  foremost  banker  and 
a  national  power  in  the  "World  of 
Finance." 

Quotation  (b)  is  the  deliberate  ut- 
terance of  a  leading  if  not  the  leading 
authority  in  the  "Realm  of  Econom- 
ics." 

Both  statements,  with  practical 
unanimity,  are  accepted  as  expressions 
of  Twentieth  Century  economic  intelli- 
gence. 

If  quotation  (a)  is  not  in  essence 
precisely  the  proposal  of  our  crazy  "in- 
ventor" and  if  (b)  does  not  in  effect 
describe  the  performance  of  the  presti- 
digitator, and  if  both  are  not  definite 
and  serious  expressions  of  (real  even 
if  unconscious)  belief  in  magic,  then 
words  have  no  meaning  and  rational 
thought  is  a  futile  farce. 


TECHNOCRACY 


39 


Should  cither  proposition  (a  or  b) 
come  (in  precisely  the  same  form) 
from  a  mechanic,  it  would  require  no 
stretch  of  the  imagination  to  foretell 
the  verdict  of  a  lunacy  commission 
regarding  his  fate. 

Modern    Diabolism. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  our  mental 
attitude  toward  the  .Mechanic  is  prac- 
tical, matter-of-fact,  modern;  toward 
the  Financier  it  is  "natural,"  sub- 
conscious, and  old  as  the  human  race. 

In  this  first  quarter  of  the  Twen- 
tieth Century,  the  overwhelming 
majority  still  persist  in  our  ages-old 
belief  in  supernatural  outcomes — 
something  from  nothing.  Indeed,  it 
is  probable  that  not  one  of  us  is 
quite  liberated  from  the  ancient  thrall 
of  superstition  in  some  of  its  myriad 
aspects.  So  deeply  ingrained  in  the 
fiber  of  human  thought  is  the  idea 
of  magic  causation,  that  this  is  still 
the  "natural"  explanation  of  any 
strange    happening. 

Our  common  speech,  our  vocations, 
relaxations,  institutions,  (secular  and 
sacred),  are  full  to  overflowing  with 
evidence  to  the  persistance  of  prac- 
tically universal  belief  in  sorcery,  de- 
monology,  witchcraft,  black-art  and 
magic. 

We  legalize  "chance"  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth,  for  the  "owner- 
ship" of  property,  and  for  success 
in    life. 

We  commercialize  and  institu- 
tionalize luck,  gambling,  speculation 
— socialize  worship  of  the  "fickle  god- 
dess." 

We  pray  "God"  to  pet  and  coddle 
us,  and  we  bribe  "Him"  to  clout 
without  mercy  those  of  whom  we 
disapprove. 

We  supplicate  rain  for  our  little 
alfalfa  patch — regardless  of  our 
neighbor's   blossoming  orchard. 

We  "bless"  our  friends  politely, 
and  "curse"  our  enemies  with  pro- 
fuse  elaboration. 

We  have  sanctified  days,  places, 
and  things,  not  forgetting  a  fair- 
sized  remnant  of  super-sanctified  peo- 
ple. 

We  habitually  apply  the  term  "wiz- 
ard" to  every  man  who  produces 
results      that     arouse     our     wonder — 


Wizard   of   Invention,   Wizard   of  Art, 
Wizard  of   Finance. 

We  constantly  talk  of  the  Magic 
of  invention,  the  Magic  of  art,  the 
Magic   of  money. 

Still  we  ignore  these  facts  and 
pretend  that  the  modern  use  of  hoary 
old  witchcraft  words  is  metaphorical, 
and  that  our  continued  use  of  Black 
Art  and  White  Magic  customs  does 
not  imply  belief  in  Diabolism  and 
necromancy  as  in  the  past. 

But  association  of  ideas,  race  his- 
tory, nursery  impressions,  and  com- 
munity heritage  are  all  too  strong  for 
the  strongest  of  us,  so  the  best  we  at- 
tain is  verbal  and  vociferous  denial 
thinly  and  shamefacedly  masking  con- 
scious, subconscious,  and  unconscious 
belief  in   magic. 

Two  Ways  of  Thinking. 

Add  now  the  new  factors,  Modern 
Science  and  Printing, — with  the  con- 
comitant spread  of  scientific  thinking 
— which  knows  not,  repudiates,  and 
wars  with  mystery,  occultism,  magic — 
and  we  have  the  perfectly  natural  re- 
sults which  we  see  all  around  us:  dis- 
agreements, disputes,  strikes,  lock- 
outs, riots,  I.  W.  W.-ism,  Bolshevism, 
revolutions,  rebellions,  World  War; 
results  the  final  outcome  of  which — 
depending  upon  general  human  intel- 
ligence— will  make  for  unprecedented 
social  progress  or  for  anarchy  and 
the   downfall  of  present  civilization. 

Mechanics,  Modern  Science  and  sci- 
entific mode  of  thinking  practically  be- 
gan with  the  Steam  Engine  and  mod- 
ern machines  of  precision. 

Economics  is  coeval  with  the  Hu- 
man  Race. 

So  it  has  come  about  that  each  one 
of  us  has  two  separate  sets  of  ideas, 
two  distinct  ways  of  thinking — the 
Ancient  and  the  Modern. 

Truth  Resented. 
Even  so,  a  statement  that  our  (more 
or  less)  self-consistent  "Financial  Sys- 
tem" is  to  any  serious  extent  con- 
structed out  of  unscientific  fancies  and 
rots  upon  nothing  more  solid  than 
ancient  superstition,  is  a  shock  to  van- 
ity, as  an  insult  to  our  intelligence:  an 
insult  directed  not  at  the  ignorant 
anion*-  us  or  at  the  thoughtless  ordin- 
ary citizen,  but,  at  our  leaders  and  our 


40 


TECHNOCRACY 


teachers,  and  at  the  "brilliant  intel- 
lects" that  control  the  world's  activ- 
ities— the  Premiers  of  Governments, 
the  Kings  of  Commerce,  the  Emper- 
ors of  Finance. 

Nonetheless,  I  believe  the  accusa- 
tion  to   be   substantially   true. 

For  a  Consideration. 

Under  our  modern  business  usages 
and  economic  customs,  all  social  ac- 
tivities must  be  "financed";  every  hu- 
man purpose  from  "winning  souls  to 
God"  to  building  a  toboggan  slide  hell- 
ward;  from  constructing  a  "little  red 
schoolhouse"  to  destroying  an  empire; 
from  borning  to  burying,  every  human 
enterprise  must  (as  a  matter  of 
course),  be  "financed" — for  a  consid- 
eration. 

In  brief,  the  modern  fashion  in 
smoothly  separating  Doer  and  Maker 
from  the  desirable  results  of  his  doing 
and  making,  is  by  "financiering  the 
enterprise" — for  a  consideration. 

For  a  thousand  years  prior  to  our 
"Finance"  dispensation,  human  activi- 
ties and  enterprises  had  to  be  (similar- 
ly) sanctioned  by  "the  Church" — for  a 
consideration. 

For  a  thousand  years  or  more,  prior 
to  "the  Church,"  enterprises  had  to 
be  similarly  sanctioned  by  "the  Or- 
acle"— for  a  consideration. 

Fashions  change,  but  human  nature 
is  more  unchanging  than  the  granite 
cliffs;  and  the  art  of  painlessly  part- 
ing producer  from  his  products  is  as 
old  as  civilization  and — Magic  still  is, 
as  it  always  has  been,  the  painless 
parter's  most  effective  "device." 

Indeed,  the  art  of  separating  the 
worker  from  the  results  of  his  indus- 
try is  far  older  than  the  human  race: 
animals  swipe  their  neighbors'  hoards, 
bears  steal  honey,  and  bee  swarms  rob 
each  other. 

Aeons  of  time  and  ages  of  human 
experience  have  not  resulted  in  any 
essential  change  in  purpose  and  out- 
come, but  only  in  rendering  the  pro- 
cess more  workmanlike  and  less 
messy. 

Animism  in  "Economics." 

A  common  feature  in  systems  of 
magic  is  animism — attributing  to  in- 
animate objects  the  functions  of  life, 
assuming  things  to  possess  will,  pur- 
pose,   and    power. 


It  is  significant  (though  quite  in 
keeping)  that  "Economists"  and  "Fi- 
nanciers" have  this  characteristic  at- 
titude of  mind  towards,  and  employ 
animistic  forms  of  expression  in  writ- 
ing and  talking  about  "Money"  and 
"Capital." 

Whether  this  is  due  to  unconscious 
belief  in  magic  or  is  mere  metaphor, 
the  result,  in  either  case,  is  befogging 
confusion    of   thought. 

When  the  President  of  a  great 
banking  corporation,  in  a  serious  pub- 
lic discussion  on  "War  Taxation,"  for 
example,  says: 

"Capital  has  a  long  memory  .  .  .  "; 

"Capital  is  proverbially  timid  .  .  ."; 

".  .  .  treason  for  capital  and  capi- 
talists .  .  .  "; 

"...  capital  and  men  of  enter- 
prise .   .  .  "; 

"...  capital  and  capitalists  of  to- 
day .  .  .  "; 

he  seems  to  be  expressing  nonsensical 
animism  and  belief  in  magic — magic 
no  less  crude  and  thinking  no  less  na- 
ive and  childlike  than  that  of  the  av- 
erage man-on-the-street  in  his  oft- 
stated  conviction  that  "Money  makes 
money,"  that  "Dimes  breed  dollars," 
and  suchlike  popular  aphorisms. 

Hazy  verbal  expression  usually  im- 
plies foggy  thinking,  and  this  is  as 
true  of  the  "highbrow"  as  of  the  rest 
of  us.  When  language  fails  to  clarify 
thought  it  is  probable  that  the 
thoughts  of  its  user  need  clarifying. 

Interpretation. 

Let  us  then  (by  means  of  a  little 
paraphrastic  amplification),  endeavor 
to  make  clear  just  what  our  banker 
friend  and  adviser  is  really  implying 
in  these  truly  ear-catching  phrases, 
which  sound  as  though  they  really 
ought  to  mean  something: 

Capital  (i.  e.  a  spade,  or  a  plow,  or 
a  crowbar,  is  more  favorably  en- 
dowed than  many  of  the  human  users 
thereof — it)    has   a    long   memory  .  .  . 

Capital  (i.  e.  a  railroad,  or  a  steam- 
ship, or  a  skyscraper  is  scared  to  be 
out  alone  after  dark — it)  is  prover- 
bially timid  .  .  . 

(It  is)  treason  for  capital  (i.  e. 
boilers  and  bullion,  timber-land  and 
mineral  deposits,  wharves  and  ware- 
houses to  preach  and  practice  the  forc- 
ible overthrow  of  our  government") 
and      (likewise     also     for)      capitalists 


TECHNOCRACY 


-II 


(when  either  capital  or  capitalist  is 
caught  in  the  act,  he,  she  or  it  should 
be  shot,  or  at  least  fed  on  low  diet 
in  close  confinement  until  repent- 
ant) .  .  . 

Capital  and  capitalists  of  today,  (on 
account  of  their  like  human  attrib- 
utes, should  be  treated  with  all  due 
and  tender  consideration  of  their  like 
human  frailties  and  timid  self-sacri- 
ficing    characteristics)   .  .   . 

1  wonder  if  this  is  precisely  what 
friend  Banker  intended  to  imply,  and 
us  to  understand  him  to  mean. 

"Economic"  Abracadabra. 

The  literature  of  Wizardry — and  it 
is  amazingly  voluminous — is  charac- 
terized, both  in  word  and  in  thought, 
by  mind-racking  unintelligible  obscur- 
ity. It  is  curiously  significant  that 
the  books  devoted  to  modern  Econom- 
ics and  Finance  are  likewise  couched 
in  obscure  jargon — abracadabra — not 
only  meaningless  to  ordinary  intel- 
ligence, but  apparently  also  to  the 
adepts   in   the   alleged  arts. 

Here  are  a  few  samples  culled  at 
random  from  a  page  in  an  article  on 
"The  Nature  and  Mechanism  (!)  of 
Credit,"  appearing  in  the  Quarterly 
Journal   of   Economics: 

"...  subjective  value  objecti- 
vised  .  .  ."; 

"...  force   of  value  .  .  ."; 

"...  psychic  force  .  .  ."; 

".  .  .  generic        purchasing        power 

"...  present  good  for  future 
good  .  .   ."; 

"...  present       value       of       future 
industrial  worth  .  .  ."; 
and   the    list    might    be    almost    indefi- 
nitely  extended. 

Truly,  I  do  not  lack  courage,  but 
I  throw  up  my  hands — confronted  by 
these  weirdly  mystic  phrases! 

To  me  they  seem  as  essentially 
meaningless  as  the  twaddle  of  the 
March  Hare  and  the  Hatter  that  so 
puzzled  poor  Alice — in  Wonderland. 
Subjected  to  mere  commonsense  an- 
alysis not  one  of  these  mysteriously 
cabalistic  phrases  seems  to  have  any 
more  meaning,  or  to  have  any  more 
relation  to  actual  things  in  a  work-a- 
day  world  of  Science  and  Mechanics, 
than  the  amazingly  similar  jargon  of 
Wizardry. 


Kilkenny  Cats. 

Practically  every  "Economist"  writ- 
er invents  his  own  vocabulary,  and 
contradicts  the  statements  of  every 
other;  they  ridicule  each  other's  rea- 
soning; and  seemingly  each  denies  the 
validity  of  all  economic  axioms  but 
his  own — they  fight  like  Kilkenny 
Cats. 

A  hurricane  of  verbalization  has 
yowled  and  a  flood  of  billingsgate  has 
raged  in  this  tempestuously  wordy 
conflict  of  economic  mysticism.  Bank- 
ers flatly  contradict  Bankers;  and 
Economists  arrive  at  diametrically  op- 
posite conclusions — from  the  same 
"facts." 

In  no  other  department  of  human 
thought  is  there  so  much  discord  and 
confusion  as  in  the  "Science  of  Eco- 
nomics." 

But  .  .  .  !  the  Financier — gets  there 
just  the  same. 

Fact   and    Fancy. 

It  is  practically  certain  that  none 
of  us  knows  when  or  to  what  extent 
superstition,  ignorant  mysticism  and 
animistic  fallacies  color  and  vitiate 
his  otherwise  rational  thinking.  It 
should  not  surprise  us  therefore,  to 
find  whole  areas  of  activities  still  ob- 
sessed with  this  primitive  mode  of 
thought,  nor  that  the  actors  therein 
are  unconscious  of  their  mental  state. 

Would  -it  not  be  the  greatest  miracle 
of  all  were  it  otherwise? 

Thus  it  is  in  high  degree  probable 
that  old  fallacies  and  superstitions  still 
infest  and  ramify  (unsuspected)  those 
activities  which  deal  with  life  in  its 
more  than  ordinary  complex  aspects — 
religion,  philosophy,  government,  fin- 
ance. 

These  considerations  (even  without 
taking  into  account  the  ever-present 
factor  of  instinctive  self-interest)  suf- 
fice to  make  probability  verge  on  cer- 
tainty, that  all  these  departments  of 
human  activity  involve  an  inextricable 
mingling  of  fact  and  fancy — science 
and  superstition. 

War. 

Magic  and  Science — "Economics" 
and  Mechanics — no  contrast  could  be 
greater,  no  antithesis  more  complete; 
and  between  magic  and  science  there 
must  always  be  war. 


42 


TECHNOCRACY 


Just  as  the  World  War — with  all  its 
variety  of  aspects  and  complexities  of 
motives — expresses  the  inherent  con- 
flict between  mutually  exclusive  and 
antagonistic  social  sys^ms — ancient 
Autocracy  and  modern  democracy — 
so  the  world-wide  social  strife,  indus- 
trial unrest,  I.  W.  W.-ism,  Bolshe- 
vism and  other  disruptive  massisms, 
express,  in  last  analysis  the  still  more 
profound  and  equally  unescapable  con- 
flict between  ancient  Superstition  and 
modern  Science. 

Mumbo    Jumbo. 

One  of  the  commonest  of  human  er- 
rors is  that  of  mentally  putting  the 
cart  before  the  horse — mistaking  the 
effect  for  the  cause  and  vice  versa. 
We  all  reason  more  or  less  childishly, 
impressed  by  the  obvious. 

In  our  childhood's  games,  custom 
(hoary  with  age)  prescribes  concur- 
rent forms  of  senseless  words  and  ir- 
relevant acts,  words  and  acts  to  which 
we  ascribe  such  causative  effect  in  the 
outcome  that,  to  our  childish  minds, 
the  game  would  be  impossible  without 
their   magic. 

So,  too,  it  is  much  the  same  with 
us,  as   grownups. 

In  our  social  activities,  custom 
(hoary  with  age  and  saturated  with 
ancient  superstitions)  prescribes  the 
mumbo  jumbo  we  now  call  "financing 
the  enterprise."  And  to  our  obsessed 
minds  this  voodoo  becomes  an  all-im- 
portant factor  of  such  causative  effect 
that  without  its  potent  magic  it  would 
be  unsafe,  if  not  impossible,  to  build 
a  schoolhouse  or  wage  a  war. 

Pedigree. 

We  see  with  our  eyes  •  the  obvious 
fact  that  "financing"  precedes  and 
accompanies  all  undertakings  and  en- 
terprises; we  see  with  our  eyes  that 
doings,  and  makings,  and  enterprises 
grow  apace  and  increase  most  mar- 
velously,  so — "naturally" — we  ascribe 
to  the  "Financier"  a  large  measure 
of  effect   in   the  outcome. 

And  the  source  of  the  financier's 
power  to  do  these  "miracles"  and 
work  these  wonders  being  mysterious 
and  occult,  we  "naturally"  concede 
him  a  large  share  of  the  proceeds, 
and  we  (equally  naturally)  accord  to 
our    modern    Wizard     (of    "Finance") 


that  respectful  awe  which  in  all  past 
times  we  have  been  accustomed  to 
render  to  his  forebears  and  predeces- 
sors in  magic — the  Medicine  Man, 
the  Witch  Doctor,  the  Soothsayer, 
the  Oracle,  the  Astrologer,  the  Ma- 
gician,  the   Ecclesiastic. 

Custom  and  usage  is  merely  con- 
tinuing its  normal  course  in  those 
two  realms  of  activity  now  called 
Finance,  and  Productive  Industry — 
Capital    and    Labor. 

D-e-b-t   Spells    Slavery. 

Enterprises  (whether  constructive 
or  destructive,  whether  productive  or 
unproductive,  whether  of  peace  or  of 
war),  when  "financed,"  become  in- 
debted to  the  "Financier"  in  propor- 
tion to  their  magnitude;  hence,  the 
harder  the  worker  works,  the  more 
industrious  and  enterprising  the 
Worker  Community,  the  faster  and 
greater  grows  the  Community  indebt- 
edness— a  truly  quaint,  queer,  curious 
and  mysterious  system  of  "econom- 
ics"! 

And  the  more  closely  it  is  exam- 
ined the  more  quaintly  mysterious  it 
seems. 

Mystery  is  and  always  has  been 
the  "device"  of  the  cunning  to  de- 
spoil and  enslave  the  simple;  and  no 
fact  of  large  social  significance  is 
today  more  glaringly  apparent  than 
the  general  and  mysterious  drift  of 
desirable  things  out  of  the  hands  of 
those  who  make  them  into  the  con- 
trol  of   others. 

Equally  clear  is  it  that  the  motor 
"device"  in  this  drift,  taken  by-and- 
large,  is  that  mysterious  process  we 
call  "financing  the  enterprise";  and 
by  the  same  token  its  most  efficient 
instrumentality  is  magic  money  and 
money  magic. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  assume  con- 
scious intent  on  the  part  of  the 
"Financier"  to  enslave  the  "Worker 
Masses",  still,  in  a  practical  world  it 
is  the  practical  outcome  not  the  in- 
tent that  is  of  practical  importance; 
and  in  the  orthography  of  modern 
economics  "slavery"  is  spelled  with 
only  four  letters — D-E-B-T. 

The  Magic  Hat. 

As — "economically"  (!) — debt  im- 
plies interest  "which  flows  to  the 
capitalist  without  ever  exhausting  the 


TECHNOCRACY 


43 


capital  from  which  it  comes  and 
therefore  without  any  necessary  limit 
to  its  continuance,  it  is  .  .  .  ca- 
pable of  an  everlasting  life  .  .  . 
a  lifeless  thing  producing  an  ever- 
lasting and  inexhaustible  supply  of 
goods" — steaks  and  steamships,  welsh- 
rabbits  and  railroads,  women  and 
wine,  dinners  and  diamonds,  farms 
and  factories;  parks,  palaces,  pleas- 
ures, power — leisure  and  luxury,  and 
all  that  lustful  heart  of  man  desires, 
all  flowing  in  an  everlasting,  self- 
creating  stream,  not  out  of  but  into 
the  magic  hat — of  the  smiling  finan- 
cial   prestidigitator. 

But  .  .  .  !  the  responsive  smile 
is  ominously  fading  from  the  faces 
of  the  dazed  payers  of  the  perform- 
ance, gazing  in  goggle-eyed  perr.  lex- 
ity  at  this  quaint  inversion  of  the 
familiar   old    magic-hat   trick. 

Who?  and  What? 

Who  are  they  from  whose  faces 
the     smile     is     so     ominously     fading? 

What  does  the  fading  of  the  smile 
mean? 

What  does  it  portend? 

They — are  "the  people." 

Of  them  I  have  written  heretofore: 
"They  do  not  think  (constructively) 
.  .  .  they  feel  —  feel  hunger,  feel 
passion — they  feel  with  all  the  vital 
energy  of  the  race.  Thus  when  so- 
cial  conditions   become   unbearable   or 


threaten  their  vital  function  (repro- 
duction), they  reflex  with  unre- 
strained   ferocity.     ..." 

That  is  what  it  means — the  fading 
of  the   smile. 

What   it   portends   is — Revolution. 

Question! 

Is  that — even  as  only  a  possibility 
— a  worthwhile  social  outcome,  con- 
sidering our  stupendous  National  op- 
portunity? 

Is  our  present  social  condition  one 
to  which  we  can  justly  point  with 
National   pride? 

Is  our  present  social  condition 
worthy  of  National  self-praise  or  of 
self-condemnation  when  we  think  of 
our  century  of  nationally  unhampered 
freedom  and  consider  our  vast  con- 
tinental area  of  the  most  fertile,  the 
most  resourceful,  and  most  favorably 
situated  land  and — the  most  intelli- 
gent mass  of  human  kind  on  earth, 
on   the  job? 

Is  our  present  social  condition  a 
goal  for  which  an  intelligent  healthy- 
minded  Nation  would  deliberately 
strive? 

Is  our  present  social  condition  the 
Objective  for  which  we — as  a  Na- 
tion— have  deliberately  striven  dur- 
ing our   National  life? 

What  is — now — our  National  Ob- 
jective? 


Fernwald,   Berkeley,   California. 
November  5,   1920. 


ANIMALS    REPRODUCE   THEIR    KIND: 
CAN  "MONEY  MAKE  MONEY"? 


Technocracy 


Second  Series 

PART  II. 

The  Method  of  Solving  Problems  Generally 

And  Our  Social  Problem  in  Particular. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

Note:  Part  II  of  Technocracy — Second  Series  makes  easily  and  clearly 
understandable  a  method  of  solving  problems  by  disregarding  details  (ac- 
cidentals) and  focusing  on  principles  (essentials),  and  the  peculiar  applicability 
of  this  method  to  the  social  problems. 

In  so  applying  it,  it  is  shown  that  social  forces  and  (human)  materials 
are  nature-given — unchangeable — and  act  in  obedience  to  laws  of  nature 
(instinctive  urges,  etc.),  but  by  the  same  method  by  which  the  mechanic 
utilizes  "destructive"  natural  forces  to  subserve  his  human  purposes,  attains 
his  ends,  and  prevents  disaster,  we  may  (and  not  otherwise)  avoid  impending 
social  calamity — forestall  revolution. 


Freedom  of  Choice. 

Nations,  like  individuals,  have  free- 
dom of  choice  to  do  well  or  ill — to  act 
wisely  or  otherwise. 

Nations,  like  their  human  elements, 
are  subject  to  growth,  to  degeneration, 
to  catastrophe.  They  are  subject, 
in  other  words,  to  evolution,  devolu- 
tion, revolution. 

And,  as  in  the  case  of  individuals, 
their  growth,  health,  freedom  from 
accident — their  continued  prosperity — 
depends  upon  their  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  Nature  and  the  intelligent  use 
they  make  of  this  knowledge. 

"Great"  and  "Small." 

Seemingly  "Nature"  makes  no  more 
distinction  between  nations  and  indi- 
viduals— is  no  more  considerate  of 
millions  than  of  units,  than  we  are. 
toward  an  ant  or  a  swarm  of  ants. 

Indeed,  in  the  midst  of  the  bil- 
lions of  giant  suns  constituting  our 
"Universe"  the  significance  of  our 
whole  huge  Earth  and  all  its  con- 
tents, animate,  and  inanimate,  seems 
to  shrink  into  absolute  negligibility. 

But,  "great"  and  "small"  are  human 
notions. 

"Nature"  is  just  as  "great"  in  its 
smallest  parts  as  it  is  "small"  in  its 
greatest.  And  it  is  human  Intelligence 
which  comprehends  both  the  greatness 
of  the  telescopic  universe  of  suns  and 


solar  systems,  and  the  equal  greatness 
of  the  microscopic  "universe"  of  mole- 
cules and  sub-molecules  that  make 
up  a  grain  of  sand. 

Responsibility. 

The  practical  point  of  this  more  or 
less  philosophical  introduction  is  that 
wc  humans  find  ourselves  on  a  mag- 
nificently equipped  earth,  endowed 
with  freedom  of  choice  to  use  or  abuse 
our  splendid  opportunities,  with  the 
inevitable  alternative  of  sanely  joyous 
life  or  futily  premature  death.  And 
we  of  the  United  States  hold  the  most 
favorable  portion  of  the  globe  and  an 
unequalled  physical  and  spiritual  heri- 
tage, with  corresponding  magnitude 
of  responsibility;  responsibility  flow- 
ing from  and  out  of  our  God-given  and 
God-like  freedom  of  choice. 

Intelligence. 

It  is  not  necessary  (as  is  both  cus- 
tomary and  confusing)  to  read  "pur- 
pose" into  the  "acts  of  Nature."  It 
is  enough  to  discern  their  unmistak- 
ably marked  drift. 

This  drift  is  a  datum — a  basic  fact — 
that   willy-nilly  we  must  accept. 

It  is  this  drift  we  call  Evolution. 

But  there  is  this  distinction  between 
Man  and  "Nature":  Nature  is  imper- 
sonal, mechanistic;  Man  is  endowed 
with      Personality  —  intelligence      and 


TECHNOCRACY 


45 


freedom  of  choice;  and  is  thereby  en- 
abled to  become  an  active  and  pur- 
poseful participator  in  the  processes  of 
evolution,  and  by  judiciously  selecting 
his  relation  to  the  drift  he  becomes 
the  sole  responsible  arbiter  of  his  fate 
— the  master  of  his  destiny. 

Perplexity. 

But,  can  man's  finite  mind  really 
discern  and  steer  a  certain  course 
among  the  infinite  complexities  of  the 
Universe? 

Why  not? 

The  difficulty  is  not  nearly  so  great 
as  many  think.  For  every  complexity 
is   reducible   to  simplicity. 

Perhaps  you  have  recently  visited 
the  California,  one  of  our  latest  fight- 
ing ships.  And  being  neither  a  naval 
man  nor  a  mechanic,  what  you  saw 
was  probably  a  seemingly  unintellig- 
ible and  mind  confusing  mass  of  com- 
plexities, filling  you  with  wonder,  but 
also  with  helpless  bewilderment. 

Principles. 

But,  looked  at  the  right  way,  the 
battleship  would  have  been  as  easy 
reading  as  this  sentence  is  to  you.  You 
would  have  automatically  looked  for 
the  very  few  essential  ideas — princi- 
ples— upon  which  every  mechanism 
and  every  combination  of  mechanisms 
must  be  built;  and  these  perceived, 
the  rest  would  have  been  as  simple 
as  unrolling  a  ball  of  twine;  for,  after 
all,  what  you  saw  was  only  a  dug-out 
with  cobble-stones  to  throw  at  the 
enemy — modernized. 

Complex  Machinery? 

You  know  that  the  battleship  hull  is 
merely  a  large  floating  sharp-ended 
box  or  shell.  You  know  that  it  has 
motor  means  to  give  it  motion;  steer- 
ing means  to  give  it  direction;  arma- 
ment  to  give  it  fighting  efficiency. 

These  simple  essential  elements 
equally  characterize  the  primordial 
savage  war-canoe  and  the  modern  civ- 
ilized battleship;  and  so  considered 
one  is  no  more  bewildering  than  the 
other.  And  both  are  equally  within 
the  grasp  of  common-sense  clear  and 
ordered  comprehension. 

As  to  the  myriad  minute  details,  by 
which  these  simple  elements  have 
gradually    attained    their    modern    re- 


finement, these  are  matters  of  merely 
incidental  interest;  each  one  of  which 
complexities,  however,  could  be  re- 
duced to  the  same  simplicity  separ- 
ately— by  the  same  method. 

Indeed,  these  separate  elements  con- 
stitute subject  matters  of  separate 
arts,  and  they  have  been  arrived  at  by 
the  skilled  mechanic  by  a  process  es- 
sentially corresponding  to  that  which 
I  have  suggested  to  you,  as  the  right 
way  of  looking  at  the  battleship. 

Fictitious  Complexity. 

The  Mechanic  knows  no  more  about 
the  ultimate  nature  (i.  e.  details)  of 
the  matter,  materials,  and  forces 
which  he  employs,  than  you  knew 
about  the  details  of  a  fighting  craft. 

All  he  knows  or  cares  about  are  a 
few  basic  facts,  the  simple  principles 
(elements)  of  Mechanics,  and  he  pro- 
duces his  results,  so  bewildering  to 
you  in  their  fictitious  complexity,  by 
applying  these  simple  principles  to 
whatever  task  he  tackles. 

Experience. 

You  will  not  charge  me  with  ego- 
tism if  I  remind  you  that  I  am  talk- 
ing as  one  who  has  been   there. 

In  my  long  experience  as  inventor, 
as  inventor's  adviser,  as  expert  in  a 
multitude  of  technical  questions  and 
patent  litigations  involving  matters 
of  the  most  intricate  character,  I 
have  never  found  my  method  of  lay- 
ing hold  of  the  principles  to  fail;  and 
I  have  never  encountered  another 
that  will  work. 

Method. 

Now  this  method,  though  unfor- 
tunately far  from  universally  prac- 
ticed,  is   quite   universally  available. 

There  is  no  reason  in  the  world 
why  you  should  not  employ  it  as 
well,  and  with  the  same  confidence, 
as  I.  For  it  rests,  not  upon  a  spe- 
cial endowment  or  any  particular  at- 
tainment, but  on  the  commonsense 
discernment  that  every  effect  has  a 
cause,  and  that  at  the  bottom  of  a 
cluster  of  interrelated  effects  one 
must  reach  a  simple  cause. 

Universal  Applicability. 

This  effective  method  of  attack  is 
seemingly    of    universal    applicability, 


46 


TECHNOCRACY 


and  you  should  now  be  able  to  rec- 
ognize its  use  by  me  in  the  various 
articles  of  mine  that  you  have  read. 
You  may  also  fathom  the  cause  and 
foundation  of  the  seemingly  egotis- 
tical confidence  with  which  I,  a 
mere  mechanic,  plunge  headlong  into 
the  all-but-sacred-and-awe-inspiring 
region  of  Sociology,  Economics,  and 
Finance  —  and  unhesitatingly  invite 
you   to   follow   me. 

The  method  has  in  the  past  en- 
abled me  to  successfully  pioneer  in 
quite  a  number  of  arts  in  the  details 
of  which  I  was  as  ignorant  as  I  am 
of  those  of  Economics  and  Finance. 
Thus  I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  sug- 
gesting to  you  a  course  fraught  with 
any  more  danger  than  that  normal 
to  being  alive;  either  when  I  recom- 
mend your  adoption  of  my  method 
of  attacking  problems  generally  or  in 
my  asking  you  to  follow  me  in  my 
application  of  it  to  our  "Social  Prob- 
lem". 

Why  Pessimistic? 

You  Mall  remember  that  the  first 
part  of  this  series  ended  somewhat 
pessimistically  envisaging  an  ominous 
prospect  and  causative  influences 
seemingly  deep-seated  and  running 
back  into  the  mists  of  antiquity.  The 
great  mass  of  the  people  are  becom- 
ing more  and  more  discontented  with 
their  condition,  more  and  more  per- 
plexed concerning  its  cause,  and  more 
and  more  bewildered  (and  increas- 
ingly impatient)  as  to  the  course  to 
be  pursued. 

To  all  with  eyes  to  see  it  is  clear 
that  the  social  body  is  profoundly 
sick.  And  equally  clear,  that  to  cure 
a  sickness,  one  must  remove  the 
cause;  and  that  unless  the  cause  is 
so  removed,  the  sickness  will  run  its 
course — possibly  to  death. 

Forestall  Revolution. 

In  the  social  body,  when  the 
process  of  sickness  (such  as  we  are 
now  passing  through)  reaches  a  crit- 
ical point,  another  phase  or  phe- 
nomenon usually  supervenes  to  save 
the  moribund  body  from  actual  ex- 
tinction:    Revolution. 

And  just  as  it  is  the  task  of  a  sick 
man  to  fight  off  death,   so   our   social 


problem,    in    its    essence,    is    the    task 
of   forestalling   Revolution. 

Remember  the  California. 

With  our  visit  to  the  warship  in 
mind,  let  us  now  prepare  to  apply 
to  our  Social  Problem  the  method 
there    tried    out. 

We  must  first  of  all  ascertain  and 
grasp  securely  the  simple  basic  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  mechanism  of 
the  social  body  is  built.  This  will 
carry  us  out  of  the  maze  of  confus- 
ing details  into  the  clearness  of  or- 
dered  comprehension. 

We  shall  then  be  in  a  position  to 
make  an  intelligent  diagnosis  of  the 
social  disorder,  and  to  at  least  think 
clearly  regarding  the  remedial  course 
to  be  adopted. 

And,  lest  there  be  needless  appre- 
hension, t  let  us  note  right  here  that 
it  will  not  be  necessary  for  us  to 
lay  down  the  curative  (or  recon- 
structive) procedure  in  its  particu- 
lars— "a  practical  remedy"  in  detail. 
Just  as  on  the  battleship  we  should 
find  experts  competent  to  execute 
the  details  of  any  change  found  de- 
sirable, so  we  have  in  the  social  ag- 
gregation technicians  to  perform  the 
corresponding  tasks. 

What  Evolution  Is   Not. 

No  word  is  more  on  people's  lips 
than  "Evolution";  and  none  is  more 
frequently  misused,  and  misunder- 
stood. 

Social  Evolution  is  often  talked  of 
as  if  it  were  a  cosmic  process  forced 
on  men  wholly  from  the  outside,  re- 
gardless of  their  yea  and  nay;  or 
again  as  if  it  were  a  beneficent  dis- 
pensation "from  on  high"  that  some- 
how, and  regardless  of  men's  acts, 
will  float  them  to  the  haven  of  social 
bliss. 

The  typical  expression  of  this 
last  extraordinary  misconception  is: 
"Things   will    right    themselves!" 

What  Evolution  Is. 
In  so  far  as  "Social  Evolution"  is 
used  not  merely  as  a  pretentious 
label  for  any  adventitious  change, 
but  for  a  continuing  process  analo- 
gous to  that  which  has  produced  the 
animate  world,  from  amoeba  to  Man, 
Social    Evolution    is    indeed    a    "Nat- 


TECHNOCRACY 


47 


ural''  force  which  Alan  must  accept 
and  to  which  he  must  adjust  him- 
self as  to  all  other  forces  of  Nature, 
but  which,  like  any  other  natural 
force,  is  available  to  Man  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  own  purposes. 
Thus — and  this  is  the  decisive  point 
—  Man  is  not  the  helpless  object  of 
this  evolutionary  force,  but  a  par- 
ticipating  subject  —  a  Master  Me- 
chanic. 

Man's   Will. 
It    is    nonsense    to    say    Capitalism 

mu^t  persist  or  that  Socialism  must 
come,  by  virtue  of  social  evolution. 
whether  men  desire  either  one  or  the 
other  or  neither.  Men  in  their  social 
relations  are  not  dust  motes  blown 
hither  and  thither  by  evolutionary 
winds.  Men  are  intelligent  beings, 
with  freedom  of  choice;  that  is,  free 
to  use  their   intelligence. 

Use   their   intelligence   for   what? 

Obviously  not  for  the  purpose  of 
trying  to  re-make  Man — to  treat  as 
negligible  basic  traits  fixed  by  suc- 
cessive survival  through  a  million 
generations;  or  of  attempting  to  alter 
the   eternal   forces   of  Nature. 

That  were  vain  indeed! 

Natural  forces,  in  social  as  well  as 
in  molecular  and  molar  mechanics, 
in  social  as  well  as  in  biological  evo- 
lution, are  inexorable.  They  are  not 
hostile  to  Man,  neither  are  they 
friendly;  they  are  simply  regardless 
of   him — impersonal. 

If  the}'  have  any  "will",  they  show 
none  toward  Man. 

But  Man  has  will.  Man  has  pur- 
pose. 

Man  can! — if  he  will.*.  . 

Man's  Way. 

How  then  does  Man  do  his  will, 
work   his   purpose? 

To  him  who  tries  to  see  below  the 
surface  it  is  clear  that  purposeful 
action  invariably  is  pivoted  on  a  ju- 
dicious choice  of  the  man's  position 
in  relation  to  the  circumstances  which 
he    confronts. 

This  is  true  even  of  the  trite  con- 
ditions of  our  daily  lives:  even  these 
are  usually  determined  for  us.  Our 
real  freedom  of  action  means  our 
choice  of  different  ways  of  placing 
ourselves    in    relation    to    these    con- 


ditions— as  a  sailor,  to  keep  his  de- 
sired course,  sets  Ids  sail  with-  ref- 
erence  to  the   wind. 

Choice  of  Relation. 

It  is  even  so  with  the  greatest 
affairs,  with  the  concerns  of  the  Na- 
tion, with  our  whole  Social   Problem. 

Certain  forces  face  and  envelop  us 
that  we  cannot  change.  But  we  can 
set  our  social  sails  and  order  our 
actions  in  relation  to  them  and  thus 
mediately  affect  the  course  of  our 
social  craft  in  the  direction  of  a  hu- 
manly   desirable,    predetermined    goal. 

If  our  choice  is  unwise,  those 
forces  will  run  to  our  hurt.  If  we 
choose  wisely,  we  may  make  a  force 
seemingly  opposed  to  our  aim — sub- 
serve it.  Thus  we  can  convert  what 
otherwise  would  have  led  to  destruc- 
tion into  constructive  upbuilding — 
change  malefaction  into  benefaction, 
criminality  into  social  service,  gen- 
eral   nuisance    into    commonweal. 

Preventable  Calamities. 

Think  of  the  Johnstown  flood,  the 
San  Francisco  fire,  the  Titanic  dis- 
aster, the  frequent  destructive  over- 
flow of  the  Mississippi,  the  recurring 
inundations  of  the  Sacramento  Val- 
ley. 

All  these  represent  Nature  acting 
regardless  of  Man;  and  Man  acting 
regardless  of  his  own  intelligence. 

In  all  these  cases  natural  forces 
overwhelmed  Man  with  calamity  be- 
cause he  had  failed  to  exercise  his 
intelligence  in  rightly  choosing  his 
relation   toward   these   forces. 

After  Event  Wisdom. 

After  the  destruction  of  Johns- 
town, the  seasonal  floodwaters  were 
wisely  impounded — to  prevent  a  repe- 
tition  of  the   disaster. 

After  the  San  Francisco  fire,  build- 
ings were  wisely  constructed  of  steel 
and  concrete  and  an  adequate  water 
supply  provided — to  prevent  a  repe- 
tition   of   the   disaster. 

After  the  Titanic  and  her  human 
cargo  had  perished,  her  sister  ship 
was  wisely  fitted  with  a  double  cel- 
lular bottom,  and  other  provisions^ — 
to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  dis- 
aster. 

After     seasonal     floods     of     Sierra 


48 


TECHNOCRACY 


snow  waters  have,  time  and  again, 
destroyed,  wholesale,  men's  works 
and  the  products  of  their  industry, 
engineering  measures  are  contem- 
plated in  our  great  valley — to  prevent 
the    recurring   disasters. 

Why  Not  Before? 

The  Johnstown  people  knew  their 
danger    from   flood! 

The  San  Franciscans  knew  their 
peculiar  danger  from  fire! 

The  owners  of  the  Titanic  knew 
the    danger    from    icebergs! 

And  all  of  us  in  the  United  States 
now — except  those  deliberately  ob- 
structing their  mental  vision  with 
blinkers  of  happy-go-lucky  optimism 
— realize  our  impending  danger  from 
Revolution. 

There  is  nothing  so  foolish  and 
ultimately  disastrous  as  to  blink  un- 
pleasant facts;  "saying  peace,  peace: 
when   there   is   no   peace." 

This  blinking  of  facts — "trusting 
to  luck",  trusting  that  "things  will 
right  themselves"- — is  the  true  cause 
of    disaster. 

Shall  we  of  the  United  States  act 
like  those  foolish  ones  and  like  them 
suffer  for  our  foolishness? 

Shall  we  continue  to  act  with 
equal  foolishness  and  enact  silly  "pro- 
hibition" and  other  repressive  laws 
intended  to  accomplish  the  impos- 
sible— change  fundamental  human  in- 
stincts and  overturn  the  unalterable 
laws   of   Nature? 

Shall  we,  like  Europe,  wait  to  learn 
wisdom  from  social  catastrophe — 
revolution? 

I  hope  not. 

Ways   and    Means. 

My  hope  that  we  shall  forestall  rev- 
olution will  undoubtedly  be  echoed  by 
all  true  Americans. 

But  that  our  hope  may  be  fulfilled, 
we  cannot  trust  to  luck  or  that  things 
will   right   themselves. 

It  will  be  necessary  above  all  that 
we  act,  and  not  only  act,  but  act 
intelligently.  And  we  seem,  as  yet, 
far  from  anything  like  a  general  un- 
derstanding and  agreement  as  to 
what  must  be  done  and  what  can  be 
done. 

We  cannot  (and  we  would  not  if  wc 
could)  prevent  the  snow  falling  on  the 


Sierras.  We  cannot  prevent  that 
snow  from  melting  when  and  how  fast 
it  will.  No  matter  how  much  we 
may  prefer  a  nicely  and  "benevolent- 
ly" calculated  graduation,  we  cannot 
prevent  a  sudden  and  "malevolently" 
unseasonable  rise  of  temperature  and 
sudden  starting  of  a  thousand  "dev- 
ilishly" destructive  freshets. 

Adjust  Ourselves. 

But  we  can  protect  the  forests,  im- 
pound flood  waters,  regulate  stream 
channels,  build  reservoirs,  dams  and 
levees.  In  short,  we  can  forestall 
destruction  flowing  from  impersonally 
neutral  natural  forces,  which  in  them- 
selves aie  unpreventable. 

Every  one  knows  how  much  in  that 
way  we  have  already  accomplished, 
and  how  much  more  is  planned. 

We  are  not,  however,  confined  to 
prevention.  Flood  waters,  which 
would  devastate,  can  be  (and,  as  well 
known,  are)  turned  into  priceless 
means  of  production.  By  intelligence 
and  skill  and  purposefulness  they  are 
made  the  means  of  reclaiming  for 
man's  use  the  desert,  and  of  "gener- 
ating" light  and  power,  and  of  helping 
to  build  up  what  may,  and  what  many 
of  us  loyal  Californians  firmly  believe 
will,  become  the  apex  of  human  cul- 
ture, the  highest  and  truest  civiliza- 
tion  on  earth. 

Immutable   Nature. 

The  point  of  application  is  plain. 
There  are  about  us  social  forces  that 
in  themselves  are  just  as  little  under 
our  control  as  are  the  snow  fall  and 
thaw.  Left  to  themselves  they  must 
run  their  "natural"  course.  And,  like 
as  not  before  we  have  time  to  catch 
our  breath,  the  flood  will  be  upon  us; 
that   direst   deluge   of  all — Revolution. 

We  cannot  change  the  elemental 
facts    of    human    nature. 

Unchangeable  Types. 

In  the  first  part  of  the  first  series 
of  these  Technocracy  papers  I  have 
sketched  in  outline  the  origin  and  de- 
velopment of  the  primal  instincts  and 
propensities.  These  are  as  fixed  as 
natural  forces.  They  ai  <•,  indeed,  nat- 
ural   forces. 

We  cannot  change  a  bellicose  man 
into    a    pacifist — a    Roosevelt    into    a 


TECHNOCRACY 


49 


Wilson;  nor  a  feeder  and  breeder  into 
a  philosopher;  nor  the  acquisitive  in- 
to the  inventive.  We  cannot  by  any 
direct  act  abolish  or  even  change  sel- 
fishness, cunning,  greed,  cowardice, 
jusl  as  little  as  it  would  avail  to  try 
(and  it  has  been  tried)  to  eradicate 
courage,  generosity,  industry,  public 
spirit. 

Human  Material. 

To  the  social  philosopher  and  the 
enlightened  social  reformer,  and  best 
of  all  to  the  plain  citizen  taking 
thought  of  these  matters,  the  first  step 
in  the  right  direction,  the  first  basic 
principle  that  must  underlie  an  under- 
standing of  the  present  Social  Dis- 
order and  be  imbedded  in  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Social  Order  to  come, 
should  be  the  real  and  effective  recog- 
nition that  all  that  may  be  accom- 
plished must  be  accomplished  with 
the  existing  human  material. 

Not  Angels. 

There  is  nothing  in  this  proposition 
to  cause  dejection  to  any  one  except 
to  those  who  think  our  only  salva- 
tion lies  in  our  acquiring  halos  and 
growing  wings. 

To  many  of  us  there  is  much  deeper 
satisfaction  and  cause  for  hopefulness 
in  the  fact  that,  thanks  to  the  Scien- 
tist, the  Inventor,  and  the  Mechanic, 
flying  has  become  mechanically  pos- 
sible, than  sorrow  over  the  circum- 
stance that  our  heads  are  not  heboid 
and  the  skin  covering  our  scapulas 
(male  or  female)  remains  as  bare  of 
feathers   as   before. 

Reconstruction. 

It  is  indeed  the  Scientist,  the  Inven- 
tor and  the  Mechanic  who  must,  as  I 
propose  to  show,  guide  and  help  us  on 
our  way — if  we  are  to  achieve  social 
salvation. 

Let  our  Scientists  prove  intelligent, 
our  Inventors  resourceful,  our  Me- 
chanics skillful,  and  us  ready  to  draw 
on  our  combined  common-sense  and 
courage,  there  need  be  little  fear  that 
our  work  of  Social  Reconstruction  will 
be  brought  to  naught  by  inadequate 
human  material. 

Reconstruction:  That  and  no  less  we 


must    attempt    if    we    arc    to    prevent 
disaster — forestall  Revolution. 

Simple  Principles. 

The  obvious  prerequisite  to  our 
beginning  our  reconstructive  work  is 
an  understanding  of  ourselves  and 
the    existing   social   mechanism. 

And  to  gain  such  understanding 
we  shall  follow  the  method  outlined 
in  connection  with  our  visit  to  the 
California: 

We  shall  refuse  to  be  daunted  by 
surface  and  fictitious  intricacy  and 
the    multiplicity    of    details. 

We  shall  seek  out  the  simple  es- 
sentials,   and    we    shall    remember: 

First,  that  every  mechanism  what- 
ever, no  matter  how  vast  and  com- 
plicated, is  built  on  simple  princi- 
ples. 

Second,  that  it  would  be  imprac- 
tical and  futile  to  specify  "a  prac- 
tical remedy"  or  to  lay  down  a 
"practical  program  of  reconstruction" 
till  we  practically  agree  on  social 
principles  and  practically  agree  on 
the  purpose  of  the  proposed  social 
reconstruction. 

Third,  that  laying  hold  of  such 
principles  is  like  unlocking  a  door; 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
the  social  structure  is  the  key  (and 
the  only  key)  to  an  understanding 
of  the  whole  of  it  and  of  how  it 
works. 

This  last  implies  that  it  is  needful 
also  to  note  that  to  know  how  a 
mechanism  works  is  as  requisite  as 
to  know  how  it  is  made.  Its  work- 
ing as  well  as  its  structure  must 
be  understood.  But  a  knowledge  of 
a  structure  almost  certainly  brings 
with  it  a  like  knowledge  of  its  work- 
ing. 

It  will  therefore  be  our  task  to 
separate  society  into  its  very  few 
and  very  simple  main  parts,  and  to 
observe  their  activities  and  the  work- 
ing of  society  as  a  whole. 

Natural  Groups. 

Obviously  the  units  of  society  are 
the    human    beings    comprising   it. 

As  I  have  set  forth  earlier,  these 
human   units   naturally  arrange   them- 


50 


TECHNOCRACY 


selves,  by  virtue  of  their  economic 
traits,  into  natural  groups.  These 
groups,  then,  are  the  essential  (main) 
parts   of   the   social   mechanism. 

When  we  have  learned  to  under- 
stand them,  their  interrelation,  and 
their  functioning — their  natural  work- 
ing— we  have  learned  to  understand 
society  as   a   whole. 

Having  learned  this,  our  ideas  re- 
garding "Reconstruction"  will  have 
become  clear,  precise,  and  practically 
usable. 

Unchangeable  Human  Nature. 

Let  us  take  a  forward  look  here, 
in  order  to  better  know  where  we 
are  at,  and  where  we  are   going. 

We  cannot  change  human  nature; 
on  that  we  are,  I  hope,  agreed.  The 
human  units  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
Reconstruction. 

Can  we  reconstruct  their  group- 
ings— the  social  elements? 

If  I  am  right  in  holding  that  these 
groupings  are  the  expression  of  im- 
manent economic  traits,  and  thus  the 
working  out  of  "human  nature", 
these  too  are  fixed  facts. 

The  essential  social  elements  are 
also    not    subject    to    Reconstruction. 

What,  then,  in  heaven's  name,  I 
almost  hear  you  cry  out,  is  there 
left  to  reconstruct? 

Ask — Tin  Lizzy. 

If  you  had  dealt  as  much  with  ma- 
chinery as  I,  you  would  not  be  puz- 
zled. And  you  will  cease  to  be  puz- 
zled as  soon  as  you  reflect  a  little. 

And — your  tin  Lizzy  can  tell  you 
all   about  it. 

Ask  her,  nicely  and  properly,  she 
will   tell   you: 

Her    besetting   vice    is    friction;    but 

Fernwald,   Berkeley,   California. 
November  11,  1920. 


without  friction  she  could  do  noth- 
ing— either  praiseworthy  or  reprehen- 
sible. 

Lacking  friction:  instead  of  being 
a  jocund  joy,  she  would  be  use- 
lessly futile   tinware. 

She  will  skittishly  skid  on  a  greasy 
road,  or  stall  in  loose  sand  because 
of — insufficient    friction. 

But,  also,  she  will  refrain  from 
these  improprieties,  answer  her 
brake,  and  conform  to  your  will  only 
— because   of  friction. 

It  is  friction  getting  in  its  deadly 
work  when  her  joints  and  journals 
screech  for  oil;  and  it  is  friction 
that  compels  you  to  everlastingly  buy 
and    replace    her    worn-out    in'ards. 

But,  and  finally,  she  speeds  her 
flirtatious  chu-chu-ing  way  on  the 
level  and  chug-chugs  laboriously  up- 
hill— God   bless   her — by   friction. 

Freedom  of  Choice. 

One  and  the  same  force,  then,  will 
work  both  "good"  and  "ill",  depend- 
ing on  the  conditioning  interrela- 
tions— our  selected  relation  toward 
the  neutral  natural  force, — our  pur- 
pose. 

Just  so,  one  and  the  same  machine 
part,  or  one  and  the  same  social  ele- 
ment, will  under  different  conditions 
of  interrelation  or  coordination  pro- 
duce totally  different  or  even  oppo- 
site results — depending  on  our  choice 
of   purpose. 

In  brief,  what  we  can  reconstruct 
is  the  interrelation  of  the  social  ele- 
ments. And  such  reconstruction 
must  proceed  from  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  what  end  the  whole  social 
mechanism  is  to  serve — our  National 
choice  of  purpose — our  National  Ob- 
jective. 


IS  HUMAN  FREEDOM  ABSOLUTE  OR  IS  IT 

CONDITIONED  ON  RATIONALITY 

AND  NATURE'S  LAWS? 


Technocracy 


Second  Series 

PART  III. 

A  Working  Method  for  a  Workable  Understanding 
Of  the  Social  Problem  and  of  a  Workable  Reconstruction. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

Note:  Proceeding  from  the  understanding  reached  in  Part  II,  that  the 
natural  social  forces  are  fixed  facts  which  cannot  be  altered,  Part  III  shows 
how  they  may  be  utilized  for  a  human  social  purpose. 

It  shows  that  while  human  freedom  must  act  within  rigid  laws  of  na- 
true,  it  is  not  thereby  limited.  The  intelligent  realization  of  this  fact  has 
made  the  mechanic  effective  and  his  accomplishments  possible;  failure  to  attain 
this  insight  in  social  relations  has  produced  what  we  call  the  "social  problem." 

Microscopic  Scratch  to  Panama  Canal. 


Seemingly  there  is  no  physical  task 
beyond  the  capability  of  the  Me- 
chanic. 

Measuring  and  weighing  machines 
accurately  determining  relations  of 
ultra-microscopic  minuteness  up  to 
those  of  cosmic  magnitude;  machines 
for  production,  for  transportation,  for 
reclamation,  for  communication;  ma- 
chines of  all  grades  of  size  and  of 
power,  and  of  capacity,  and  of  preci- 
sion— from  bolometer  measuring  vari- 
ations in  pressure  of  light-waves  trav- 
ersing infinite  space  to  dreadnaught 
delivering  its  accurately  placed  and  ir- 
resistible thousand-ton  blows;  from 
the  hundred  thousand  in  an  inch  ac- 
curately spaced  diffraction-grating 
scratches  to  Culebra  earth-gash  of  the 
Panama  Canal: 

These  are  some  of  the  works  of  the 
Mechanic. 

Methods  Right  and  Wrong. 

Clearly  it  is  pertinent  to  our  in- 
quiry to  ask:  How  does  he  do  it0 

When  we  note  in  one  department  of 
human  effort  certainty  and  success, 
and  in  another  confusion  and  failure, 
it  is  more  reasonable  to  infer  that  a 
deep-seated  difference  in  method  ol 
procedure  is  involved  than  that  the 
brains  and  intelligence  of  humanity 
have  accidentally  drifted  into  the  one 
and  deserted  the  other  department. 


The  validity  of  this  inference  is  em- 
phasized by  our  common  impression 
that  Mechanics  are  more  or  less  hum- 
ble and  low-brow,  commonplace  and 
ordinary  fellows,  while  our  Econo- 
mists, Sociologists  and  Financiers  are 
by-and-large  haughty  and  high-brow, 
brainy  and  rather  extraordinary  per- 
sonages. 

The    Mechanic's    Wisdom. 

Probably  the  most  characteristic  at- 
titude of  the  mechanic  toward  the 
forces  and  materials  with  which  he 
deals  is  unquestioning  acceptance  of 
the  fact  that  he  cannot  change  or  any- 
wise modify  the  laws  of  nature  or  the 
qualities   of   materials. 

The  mechanic,  like  the  rest  of  us, 
wants  to  accomplish  a  multitude  of 
purposes.  Having  determined  upon  the 
object  of  his  desires,  be  it  a  machine 
to  do  something,  or  a  change  in  the 
location  of  physical  things,  he  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  assumption  which  I 
have  indicated:  that  he  is  debarred 
from  changing  or  even  modifying 
either  the  laws  of  nature  or  the  char- 
acter of  materials;  and  so  sets  to  work 
to  get  a  clear  understanding  of  these 
laws  and  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
materials  involved.  Then  he  so  se- 
lects his  relation  to  the  appropriate 
forces  and  materials  that  thereby 
(through  their  natural  causc-and-ef- 
fect  functioning)  his  purpose  is  accom- 
plished. 


52 


TECHNOCRACY 


Nature   Dynamic 

But,  what  do  we  mean  by  "Laws  of 
Nature"? 

We  do  not  mean  a  catalogue  of  in- 
ert, dead  "facts." 

A  law  of  nature  implies  motion,  not 
rest — Universal  Energy  in  universal 
orderly  activity — it  is  not  a  static,  but 
a  dynamic  concept. 

It  is  the  description  of  a  process  and 
the  conditions  under  which  it  runs. 
Essentially  it  is  a  precise  statement  of 
the  simple  notion — based  on  experi- 
ence— that  if  something  happens, 
something  else  will  happen  as  a  con- 
sequence. 

Nature  is  dynamic — it  is  eternal  Do- 
ing. 

Ceaseless  change  is  of  Nature's  es- 
sence. 

Even  what  we  call  inert  matter  is 
constantly  changing  and  undergoing 
elaboration   and   displacement. 

What  does  not  change  are  certain 
relations,  which  we  spell  out  under 
the  notion  of  cause  and  effect. 

Thus  a  law  of  nature  is  the  expres- 
sion of  what  is  ever  changeless  within 
the  ever  changing. 

Freedom  Through  Knowledge. 

It  is  such  clear  and  adequate  under- 
standing of  and  conformity  to  the  laws 
of  nature  that  gives  to  the  Mechanic 
his  freedom  of  action — his  certainty, 
his  success. 

He  goes  to  his  task  neither  cowed 
by  the  irresistible  natural  forces  nor 
ignorantly  contemptuous  of  them.  He 
knows  them:  and  with  his  objective 
clear  before  him,  he  so  makes  his 
selection  among  them  and  so  chooses 
his  relation  to  them  that  his  work  may 
be  accomplished  through  their  service 
— through   Universal    Energy. 

The  Mechanic's  purposive  freedom 
(expressed  in  his  accomplishments)  is 
made  effective  through  knowledge  of, 
but  by,   Nature's  Causative  Activity. 

Neutral  Nature. 

Nature  is  neutral  to  Man,  to  his 
hopes  and  his  fears,  his  projects  or  his 
lack  of  them. 

Neutrality,  however,  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  passivity.  There  is  a  neu- 
trality in  action  as  well  as  a  neutrality 
in  rest:  A  swimmer's  choice  of  direc- 
tion is  not  diminished   if   he   can   take 


advantage  of  currents  flowing  in  the 
chosen  course,  but  on  the  contrary,  his 
effective  liberty  is  thereby  enhanced. 

And  the  last  word  of  Science  is  that 
"Nature"  is  an  infinitely  directioned 
but  orderly  flow  of  Universal  Energy 
— currents  infinitely  directioned  and 
available  to  liberate  all  who  will  pa- 
tiently study  them,  and  to  realize  all 
their  rational  purposes. 

It  is  in  this  sense  that  there  is  truth 
in  the  otherwise  inexact  statement 
that  the  mechanic  has  learned  to  "con- 
trol"  nature. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  does  not 
"control"   nature. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  also,  nature 
does  not  "control"  him. 

Doing  the  Impossible. 

Some  of  you  will  remember  the 
time,  not  so  very,  very  many  years 
ago,  when  aeronautics  was  still  in 
the  balloon  stage,  and  when  at  our 
own  university  here  in  Berkeley  one 
of  our  most  revered  and  renowned 
and  forward  -  looking  scientists 
"demonstrated"  that  flight  by  a  heav- 
ier-than-air  contrivance  was  a  phys- 
ical impossibility  —  as  contravening 
certain   laws   of  nature. 

As  we  all  know,  the  Professor  was 
wrong.  But  his  error  did  not  come 
from  overrating  the  laws  of  nature, 
but  from  underrating  man's  freedom 
and  ingenuity  in  choosing  his  rela- 
tion  to  them. 

The  fact  of  gravitation  is  beyond 
the  will  of  man  and  mechanic — leave 
it  or  lump  it.  It  is  just  the  same  as 
it  was  when  the  Professor  asserted 
the  impossibility  of  the  aeroplane. 
Yet  now  the  overhead  whirr  (that 
still  thrills  some  of  us)  has  become 
so  familiar  that  busy  men  hardly 
look    up. 

How  was  this  seeming  miracle  ac- 
complished? 

In  essence:  by  a  design  calculated 
to  put  the  aviator  in  suitable  speed 
relation  to  that  proverbially  lightest 
of  things,  the  air,  and  thus  its  nat- 
ural (upthrust)  resilient  energy  coun- 
terbalances natural  (downthrust) 
gravitational   "pull". 

In  short,  the  mechanic  utilized  nat- 
ural forces  appropriately — placed  him- 
self in  appropriate  relation — and  thus 
attained    his    desired    objective. 


TECHNOCRACY 


53 


But,  the  mechanic,  no  more  than 
the  animal,  the  fish,  or  the  bird, 
"controls"    these    forces    of    nature. 

Conditioned:  Not  Limited. 

The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth. 
Of  the  forces  of  nature  man  cannot 
alter  a  jot.  But  he  has  practically 
unlimited  scope  for  determining  his 
own  relation  with  regard  to  them. 

Man   does   not  control   nature. 

But  man  can  utilize  the  active 
forces    of   nature — without    limit. 

The  "Practical  Mechanic"  has 
learned  this  lesson,  as  he  has  also 
learned  to  utilize  nature  to  attain  his 
own    objectives — hence    his  '  success. 

The  Social  Mechanic  (sociologist 
and  economist)  has  learned  neither; 
— hence    his   failure. 

Considering  the  limitless  extent  and 
infinite  complexity  of  nature,  there 
is  thus  given  to  Man  an  equally  un- 
limited scope  for  his  activity — even 
to  the  point,  as  shown  by  the  prac- 
tical mechanic,  of  attaining  the  "Im- 
possible". 

This  holds  good  of  all  men's  as- 
pirations and  activities,  in  his  social 
arrangements  no  less  than  in  his  me- 
chanical contrivances.  In  one  as  in 
the  other  he  has  infinite   choice. 

Man  may  attempt  the  seeming  im- 
possible— and  succeed! 

Man  is  free! 

What  Is  Freedom? 

With  respect  to  the  laws  of  na- 
ture, and  the  mechanic's  attitude  to- 
ward them,  may  we  not  now  feel 
that  we  are  on  firm  ground? 

But,  what  do  we  mean  by  "free- 
dom"? 

Freedom!  Invoked  by  myriad- 
voiced  chorus,  called  in  vain  by  ig- 
norance and  folly!  Spirit  of  de- 
mocracy, yet  not  understood  by  de- 
mocracy! 

Endless  foolish  talk  of  freedom, 
with  all  manner  of  etherial  attenua- 
tions of  metaphysical  abstractions, 
perfervid  declamation,  profound  mis- 
conception! 

What  I  mean  by  Freedom  is  ex- 
ceedingly simple;  but  directly  this 
meaning  is  grasped,  the  light  it  sheds 
on  social  relations  becomes  all-illu- 
minating. 

Freedom    in    matters    social    is    pre- 


cisely  what    I    have    shown    to   be    the 
mechanic's     freedom     in     his    dealings 
with   the   forces   of  nature. 
No  more,  no  less. 

Free  to  Choose. 

The  mechanic  is  not  free  to  change, 
he  is  free  to  choose  the  facts  and 
forces  of  nature.  He  is  free  to  use 
them  as  he  wills,  to  his  own  and 
others'    good    or — hurt. 

Neither  can  you  or  I  change  the 
social  forces,  the  social  materials. 
But  you  and  I  and  all  of  us  to- 
gether are  free  to  choose  and  use 
them  for  a  predetermined  purpose 
and  our  advantage;  but  unused,  they 
— with  cosmic  indifference  —  quite 
commonly   run    to   our  undoing. 

The  human  units  and  essential 
group  elements  of  the  social  struc- 
ture and  their  natural  laws  are  as 
much  nature-given,  nature-made  and 
nature-determined,  as  the  units,  ele- 
ments, and  laws  of  the  mechanic's 
constructions.  They  are  the  facts, 
the  data  which  we  must  accept,  as 
the  mechanic  accepts  the  character- 
istics and  functions  of  the  wood,  or 
clay,  or  iron,  or  wedge,  or  lever,  or 
whatnot    of    his    craft. 

The  Only  Way. 

If  Society  and  Social  Reconstruction 
are  to  exercise  freedom,  it  can  only 
be  by  wise  selection  and  purposeful 
utilization  of  the  material  offered  by 
nature. 

Chemist,  electrotechnician,  metal- 
lurgist, farmer,  plant  "originator",  and 
animal  breeder— all  (in  effect)  so  ap- 
preciate the  rationale  of  their  activi- 
ties,  and   thus   gain    success. 

When  the  stock-breeder  wants  cows 
that  produce  more  milk  or  heavier 
beeves,  he  does  not  pray,  nor  employ 
magic,  nor  serve,  notice  of  specifica- 
tions on  nature.  What  he  does  is  to 
get  busy  with  actually  existing  cows 
and  beeves,  in  whose  make-up  he 
has  no  say  whatever;  and  by  apply- 
ing his  knowledge  of  genetics  and 
crossing  the  appropriate  strains,  he 
finally  gets  what  he  is  after.  So 
far  from  "controlling"  nature  and 
essaying  to  dictate  to  her,  he  is  her 
humble,  patient  and  painstaking  pupil. 
And  so  it  is  that  he,  after  all  (in 
effect),   "makes"   her   do   his   will. 


54 


TECHNOCRACY 


Let  "Nature"   Do   It. 

No  one  will  more  heartily  agree 
with  the  Mechanic's  Philosophy,  as 
I  have  outlined  it,  than  my  friend 
Luther  Burbank.  He  knows  in  high- 
est degree  how  nature's  "secrets"  may 
be  learned;  not  evoked  by  magic  or 
any  form  of  wizardry;  not  wrested 
by  flying  in  the  face  of  nature's  laws 
or  by  nullifying  natural  forces;  but 
gained  by  patient  search,  by  persist- 
ent study,  judicious  choice,  and  intel- 
ligent application  to  a  well  defined 
purpose — objective.  That  is,  exercis- 
ing one's  freedom  in  choosing  his  rela- 
tion to  the  facts  of  nature.  Man  did  not 
make  the  myriad-spike-armed  cactus. 
But,  Burbank  has  induced  "Nature"  to 
make  the  heretofore  hostile  cactus, 
spineless. 

And  so  also,  Dr.  Jacques  Loeb,  Dr. 
Ritter,  and  the  other  biologists  search- 
ing for  the  secret  of  how  "life  is 
made"  and  conceivably  to  "make"  it 
themselves,  they  all,  I  feel  confident, 
are  imbued  by  the  same  understand- 
ing and  in  essence  follow  the  same 
method. 

Re  "Social  Problem." 

This  and  no  other  must  be  our 
method  in  dealing  with  our  Social 
Problem.  Not  otherwise  will  a  (hu- 
manly desirable)  New  Order  ever 
arise  from  the  existing  Social  Dis- 
order. 

For  this  Disorder  is  the  resultant 
of  natural  (social)  forces,  forces  to- 
wards which  men,  failing  to  exercise 
their  freedom  of  choice,  have  taken 
no  defined  and  socially  purposive  po- 
sition at  all  or  an  irrational  position, 
i.  e.  in  opposition  to  natural  social 
forces.  And  these  social  forces  will 
and  must  obey  their  immanent  laws 
and  run  their  nature-appointed  course, 
even  to  the  obliteration  of  civilization 
and  civilized  man's  destruction,  unless 
and  until  he  becomes  fully  aware  of 
the  situation,  learns  to  know  the  social 
forces  and  their  laws  which  he  con- 
fronts, and  deals  rationally  with  them 
as  does  the  mechanic  with  the  natural 
forces  in   his  department  of  effort. 

Let  Man — in  social  relation — but 
reach  such  competence  of  insight  and 
competence  of  action  as  the  Mechanic 
has  already  attained  and  the   horizon 


of   the   socially  attainable   will   be   ex- 
tended immeasurably. 

Scepticism. 

It  is  not  unnatural  that  so  many  pro- 
posals for  social  betterment  should 
encounter  scepticism.  The  man  who 
waves  them  aside  with  the  (to  him) 
conclusive  '"impossible,"  is  less  of  an 
impossibilist  than  the  typical  "reform- 
er" who  makes  them.  For  those  pro- 
posals commonly  rest,  not  on  scien- 
tific knowledge  of  the  natural  laws 
involved  and  a  competent  technology 
in  dealing  with  them,  but  on  mere 
wish-father-to-the-t  hought;  fro  m 
which  pedigree  nothing  comes  but 
futility. 

But  a  suggestion  for  social  action, 
no  matter  how  unprecedented,  how 
"impractical,"  no  matter  how  startling 
on  the  surface  and  to  superficial  in- 
spection, if  it  discloses  itself  as  se- 
curely founded  on  the  facts  and  laws 
of  society,  will  claim  criticism  of  a 
very  different  order. 

Only  the  self-interested  will  hurl 
angry  epithets. 

Only  the  unthinking  will  then  cry 
"impossible." 

Only  the  impractical  will  cry  "Give 
us  a  practical  remedy,"  "Give  us  a 
practical   program    of   reconstruction." 

And  when  the  basic  point  of  view 
which  I  am  here  abbreviatedly  setting 
forth  shall  have  gained  acceptance,  it 
will  follow  that  what  is  now  labelled 
impractical  and  socially  impossible 
will  be  universally  regarded  as  the 
matter-of-course;  just  as  the  "imprac- 
tical" and  "impossible"  airplane  of 
twenty  years  ago  is  with  us,  now,  an 
every-day  reality. 

Absurdity  Rampant! 

If  my  extended  experience  with  in- 
venting had  not  taught  me  so  securely 
that  the  most  formidable  obstacles 
and  difficulties  dissolve  of  themselves, 
as  it  were,  before  the  method  which 
I  am  outlining,  and  what  victories 
over  the  "impractical"  and  "impos- 
sible" may  thus  be  won,  I  do  not 
know  that  I  should  have  the  heart  for 
any  sociologizing;  so  great  and  gro- 
tesque is  the  contrast  between  what 
humanly  is  and  what  humanly  ought 
to  be. 

Look   about   in    any   direction:    You 


TECHNOCRACY 


55 


find  absurdity  running  rampant — run- 
ning Society. 

Ubiq.  H.  C.  L. 

Charmed  if  not  charming  symbol 
of  man's  economic  ineptitude — 
H.  C.  L. 

Tons  of  paper  and  printer's  ink  and 
myriad  dynes  of  linguistic  energy  have 
been  used  up  in  vain  speculative  ef- 
forts to  track  it  to  its  lair,  to  stop  its 
soaring,  to  understand,  to  curb,  to  con- 
trol it. 

And  while  the  writing  and  disputing, 
learned  and  unlearned,  are  at  their 
hottest, — lo!  things  mysteriously  be- 
gin to  happen. 

Howls  and  Grins. 

Wool  drops  50  per  cent  and — a  mil- 
lion-dollar howl  goes  up  from  the 
sheepmen. 

Wheat,  which  sold  at  three  dollars  a 
few  months  ago,  is  now  precariously 
hanging  about  two  dollars.  The  price 
of  cotton  has  been  cut  in  two  since 
spring.  Cattle  and  hogs  on  the  hoof 
have  slumped.  Prices  of  staple  fruits 
are  down — billion-dollar-shrieks  from 
the  agriculturalist. 

City   man   grins. 

Why  Blame  Anyone! 

In  the  why  of  these  ground-and- 
lofty  acrobatic  performances  o  f 
"prices"  I  am  not  at  present  interest- 
ed. But  what  does  interest  me— and 
you — at  this  point  is  the  difference  in 
emotional  response  from  different  por- 
tions of  the  American  people. 

Roars  of  rage  from  the  farmer: 

A  nascent  smile — a  flickering  grin 
— of  hope  on  the  faces  of  the  urban 
consumers. 

Would  you  blame  the  farmer? 

I   don't. 

He  must  raise  "high-priced"  crops 
on  his  "high-priced"  land — blessed 
are  the  land-speculators  and  boosters! 
How  else  could  he  make  "interest," 
let  alone  a  "profit,"  on  his  "invest- 
ment"?— blessed  our  system  of  finance 
and  financiers  and  "financiering  the 
enterprise." 

And  is  not  everyone  legitimately, 
necessarily,  "naturally"  out  for  the 
boodle? 

Said  a  Hayward  poultryman  a  little 
while  ago  (a  very  decent  good-natured 


fellow,  quite  undistinguished  for  re- 
pacity) :  "I  hope  eggs  go  to  two  dol- 
lars a  dozen." 

Can  you  blame  him? 

I    don't. 

Do   you  blame  any  "profiteer"? 

I  don't. 

Would  you  blame  Mr.  City  Con- 
sumer for  rejoicing  at  Mr.  Farmer's 
sorrow? 

I  don't. 

Fifty-Fifty. 

Let  us  note  parenthetically  that  Mr. 
City  Consumer's  joy  is,  as  yet,  only 
anticipatory. 

The  decline  in  values  on  the  farm 
has  not,  as  yet,  penetrated  into  his 
grocery  store — with  marked  visibility. 
(Maybe  it  will  not.)  And  his  (decline- 
in-wool-inspired)  scouting  of  clothiers' 
show  windows  has  not,  as  yet,  dis- 
closed  any  hope-confirming   tags. 

Perhaps,  indeed,  though  wool  go 
down  fifty  per  cent,  suits  may  go  up 
another  fiftv. 

Why  not? 

Is  not  our  "economic  system"  equal 
to  almost  anything — preposterous? 

It  "naturally"  makes  every  citizen  an 
enemy  of  every  other! 

"One  man's  misfortune  is  another's 
opportunity." 

Of  course!     Naturally. 

Serious   Questions. 

What  are  farms  and  farming  to  the 
city  dweller? 

What  is  the  city  man  to  the  farmer? 

What  is  the  householder  to  the 
store-keeper? 

What  are  they  all  to  the  laborer? 

What  is  the  laborer  to  them  all? 

What  are  producer  and  consumer  to 
the  Nation? 

Where  is  there  any  understandable 
and  unifying  interest? 

Civil  War. 

You  cut  yourself  down  to  one  fire 
in  your  house  because  coal  is  so  dear; 
but  West  Virginia  and  Alabama  have 
been  enjoying  the  diversion  of  civil 
war,  because  the  coal  miners  want 
more  wages.  And  they  are  as  far 
from  sybaritism  as  you  are  from  be- 
ing   a    miser. 

But  the  Coal  Barons  do  not  lan- 
guish. 

Truly  our  grotesque  "economic  sys- 


56 


TECHNOCRACY 


tern"  is  equal  to  almost  anything  pre- 
posterous. 

Obviously  it  is  equal  to  producing 
the  quaint,  Alice  in  Wonderland,  re- 
sult of  placing  one  good  and  amiable 
American  in  Hayward  and  another 
equally  good  and  equally  amiable 
American  in  Berkeley  into  a  relation 
of  active  antagonism  in  life  and  death 
hostility  of  interests  and  aims;  hos- 
tility as  real,  as  necessary,  as  "nat- 
ural," as  if  they  were  members,  not  of 
a  supposedly  unified  nation,  but  sub- 
jects of  two  atrocious  nations — at 
war  with  each  other. 

Quaint   hardly   expresses   it   .    .   .eh? 

Those  Patched  Breeches! 

Why  has  wool,  let  us  say,  dropped 
in  price? 

Because,  say  the  "economists  and 
financiers,"  the  world's  market  for 
wool  is  overstocked. 

Think  of  it! 

But  how  on  earth  has  it  become 
overstocked? 

Think  of  it. 

If  a  tithe  we  are  told  about  Europe 
is  true,  half  her  people  have  hardly 
rags  wherewith  to  cover  their  naked- 
ness. And  we  dwellers  in  the  richest 
land  of  the  earth  (and,  as  we  some- 
times fancy,  owners  thereof)  have  we 
not  been  performing  marvels  of  skill 
and  patience  (ye  gods,  how  long  it 
seems!)  in  patching  sleeve  elbows,  in 
patching  shoes,  in  patching  breeches 
seats,  in  patching  our  ragged  tempers, 
and  in  pretending  that — if  we  have  one 
— an  overcoat  is  appropriate  for  sum- 
mer wear  and — public  appearance. 

Why? 

A  sheepraiser  in  the  Sacramento 
valley  will  tell  you  he  is  compelled  to 
warehouse  his  present  season's  clip 
indefinitely. 

Why? 

"Wool  is  not  now  saleable"!- — 
"There   is   no  demand   whatever!" 

No  demand  for  wool!     Mark  that. 

And,  of  course  no  one  feels  the 
slightest  desire  for  a  new  suit  of 
clothing. 

So  there  you  are. 

Truly,  quaint  beyond  expression. 

How  do  you  like  it,  Mr.  Man? 

And,  how  do  you  like  it,  Friend 
Lady? 


Futile  Tinkering. 

But  these  examples  of  our  prepos- 
terous "economics"  are  obvious  and 
commonplace.  I  should  not  waste  my 
time  and  your  patience  just  to  speak 
of  such  trite  matters;  or  to  add  an- 
other "practical"  suggestion  for  "bet- 
tering" them  to  the  futile  scrap-heap 
of  "practical"  palliatives. 

He  would,  indeed,  be  a  fool- 
mechanic  who  would  waste  time  and 
material  tinkering  with  details  of  a 
mechanism  after  having  on  careful  ex- 
amination decided  the  device  to  be 
wrong  in   basic   principle. 

Why  waste  futile  anger  and  energy 
on  Financiers  and  Profiteers  when 
they  are  perfectly  "natural"  elements 
in  our  "economic  system,"  as  our  na- 
tional social  aggregation  has  devel- 
oped from  its  ages-old  "natural"  her- 
itage? 

I  would  not,  if  I  could,  stop  Prof- 
iteers from  profiteering,  nor  Finan- 
ciers from  financiering,  nor  punish  any 
one  for  playing  our  fool-game  accord- 
ing to  its  crazy  rules — better  than  the 
rest   of  us. 

Effective  Reconstruction. 

What  I  am  driving  at  is  a  working 
method,  for  a  workable  understanding 
of  the  "Social  Problem,"  and  a  work- 
able   Social   Reconstruction. 

However  difficult  in  application  it 
may  appear  to  the  unthinking,  or  how- 
ever undesirable  to  the  self-interested, 
the  method  I  propose  has  the  ef- 
fectiveness and  simplicity  of  ration- 
ality. It  has  that  perfect  simplicity 
which  lies  at  the  heart  of  useful  dis- 
covery and  invention. 

The  discernment  for  which  I  plead 
is  that  our  society  is  wrong  in  basic 
principle,  is  based  on  anti-social  prin- 
ciples. It  is  a  left-over  from  our  Eu- 
ropean heritage  and — headed  for  the 
same  outcome. 

Its  various  parts  have  developed  in 
obedience  to  natural  forces,  are  work- 
ing in  obedience  to  natural  forces,  and 
the  outcome  will  be  the  natural  re- 
sult of  the  interaction  of  these  nature- 
given  materials  and  natural  forces. 

Elements   Unchangeable. 

It  is  childishly  futile  to  try  to  tinker 
any  social  machine  part — any  social 
element — into  workability,  by  itself. 


TECHNOCRACY 


57 


In  the  first  place,  these  elements 
are  in  their  essential  qualities  unmod- 
ifiable.  Just  as  the  mechanic's  ma- 
terials  are   unchangeable. 

In  the  second  place,  even  could  they 
be  singly  altered,  what  good  would 
that  do?  They  still  would  remain  es- 
sentially isolated  elements,  aggregat- 
ed in  this  or  that  connection,  but  un- 
combined  by  any  unifying  human  de- 
sign  into  a  humanly  purposeful  whole. 

Society  a  Machine. 

It  has  not  been  effectively  recog- 
nized, despite  the  universal  use  of  the 
phrase  "social  body,"  that  society  is 
a    body — a    mechanism. 

Just  as  a  man's  body  is  really  a  ma- 
chine, a  heat  motor,  as  mechanistic  as 
a  Tin  Lizzie  or  a  battleship;  just  as 
an  army  (in  every  proper  sense  of  the 
term)  is  a  military  machine:  so  a 
Town,  a  State,  or  a  Nation  is  equally 
mechanistic — a  true  Machine. 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the 
effective  implication  and  significance 
of  this  notion     .     .     . 

When  your  body  is  "sick"  and  an- 
noying you  by  not  obeying  your  will, 
it  is  acting  in  obedience  to  universal 
law  with  the  same  precision,  regular- 
ity, and  mechanistic  predictableness, 
as  when  it  was  "well"  and  acting  re- 
sponsive  to   your   will. 

The  only  real  difference  is:  in  one 
case  you  like,  and  in  the  other  you 
dislike, — the  outcomes  of  the  same 
universal  law,  the  same  mechanistic 
natural   order. 

Fernwald,   Berkelev,   California. 
November   15,   1920. 


Just   so   with    the    social   body. 

If  we  do  not  like  the  outcome  of 
our  social  organization,  and  if  we  will 
use  our  constructive  imagination  to 
conceive  an  outcome  more  to  our  lik- 
ing and  use  our  freedom  of  choice  to 
choose  such  outcome;  and  if  we  have 
initiative  to  undertake,  and  construc- 
tive skill  (and  courage)  to  rearrange 
the  nature-given  elements  in  suitable 
relation  to  social  forces  and  factors 
to  produce  the  chosen  outcome — then 
the  solution  of  our  "Social  Problem" 
will   be   in    process. 

And  as  I  have  said,  "sickness"  which 
in  the  human  body  brings  crises, 
boding  physical  death,  in  the  social 
.body  brings — Revolution — portent  of 
National    Dissolution. 

Purposeful  Social  Evolution. 

It  is  quite  useless  to  promulgate 
"practical"  programs  and  platforms, 
and  childishly  impractical  to  prate 
of  the  common  interests  of  (dead) 
"capital"  and  (living)  "labor"  and  the 
need  of  bringing  them  together,  and 
so  forth,  and  so  on  and  on     .     .    . 

The  only  measure  that  will  prevent 
Revolution  is  Purposeful  Social  Evo- 
lution: Social  Reconstruction  of  such 
kind  as  will  turn  what  is  now  a  sense- 
less anti-social,  internecine  warring 
aggregation,  into  a  purposeful  work- 
ing combination;  into  a  real  Nation — 
a  Nation  unified  by  a  common  pur- 
pose— a    National    Objective. 


IS    NOT    HUMAN    PURPOSIVE    FREEDOM 

MADE    EFFECTIVE    BY    KNOWLEDGE    OF 

NATURE'S  CAUSATIVE  ACTIVITY? 


Technocracy 


Second  Series 

PART  IV. 

Labor,  Skill,  Tally,  Organization  and  Their  Functions: 
Production,  Distribution,  Direction. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

Note:  This  the  concluding  part  of  Technocracy — Second  Series  gathers 
up  the  preceding  considerations  for  their  logical  conclusions. 

The  solution  of  the  social  problem  is  shown  to  lie  in  man's  making  use 
of  his  unique  self-conscious  freedom  and  rationality  for  purposefully  co-ordinat- 
ing the  nature-given  and  nature-elaborated  elements  of  the  social  structure; 
which  the  essay  describes  in  their  essentials.  In  this  way  man  makes  himself 
a  participator  in  the  miracle  of  creation,  the  evolutionary  process,  and  his 
own  physical,  social,  and  spiritual  development. 

The  alternative  presented  is,  on  one  hand:  animal  instincts  running  their 
'"natural"  course  to  social  chaos,  to  revolution;  on  the  other  hand:  human 
reason  utilizing  the  instincts,  for  the  attainment  of  social  order,  true  social 
evolution. 


Basic   Requirements. 

Feeding  and  Breeding  are  the  funda- 
mentals  of   social   life. 

Any  circumstance — "natural"  hap- 
pening, or  artificial  arrangement — ad- 
verse to  these  basic  requirements  is 
anti-social  and  socially  disruptive. 
Conditions  favorable  thereto  are  con- 
ducive to  social  development. 

Inherited  Animal  Instincts. 

Not  only  are  these  requirements 
basic  to  human  society,  but  they  are 
and  always  were  equally  necessary  to 
all  forms  of  "lower"  animate  exist- 
ence. 

Thus  it  is  that  (to  ensure  feeding 
and  breeding),  "Nature"  during  the 
aeons  of  experimentation  which  we 
call  "Evolution"  has  developed  a  va- 
riety of  fixed  preservative  instincts, 
traits,  and  characteristics  in  the  animal 
world.  From  the  animal  world,  we 
as  animals  have  inherited  such  of  these 
instincts,  traits,  and  characteristics  as 
were  necessary  or  most  favorable  to 
Man's  survival  and  present  dominance. 

"Gifts":  Peculiarly   Human. 

In  addition  to  these,  man  lias  ac- 
quired, attained,  or  been  endowed 
with  "gifts"  peculiar  to  himself  which 
render  him  unique — Consciousness  of 
Self,  Freedom  of  Choice,  and  Purpos- 
ive Rationality. 


A  Cosmic  Invitation. 

By  these  latter  acquisitions,  Man 
has  been  placed  in  the  peculiar  situa- 
tion of  being  an  invited  participator 
in  the  evolutionary  process,  including 
also  the  working  of  this  cosmic  pro- 
cess  as    concerns    himself. 

This  momentous  invitation  he  is 
free  to  accept  or  reject. 

Accepted? 

If  he  accepts  the  invitation  he  as- 
sumes its  inherently  implied  terms. 
He  assumes  responsibility  for  the  out- 
come of  his  interference  with  the 
evolutionary  process.  He  gets  the 
benefits  which  his  intelligent  co-opera- 
tion may  bring  him,  and  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  own  desires,  but,  also, 
he  must  bear  the  pains  and  penalties 
of  his  own  foolish  actions. 

If  he  accepts  the  invitation  to  take 
a  responsible  part  in  his  own  evolu- 
tion, he  has  at  his  disposal  all  of  the 
active  forces  of  Nature  including  those 
which  motivate  himself, — his  bodily 
mechanism,  his  instincts,  his  procliv- 
ities, his  economic  traits,  his  intelli- 
gence— to  make  or  mar  himself  and 
his   institutions. 

Rejected? 

If  he  docs  not  accept  the  invitation 
to    participate    in    the    miracle    of   ere- 


TECHNOCRACY 


59 


ation  and  the  Cosmic  Enterprise,  the 
Great  Undertaking:  goes  on  without  a 
flicker  of  disturbance — indifferent  to 
his  existence — or  what  amounts  to  the 
.same,  regardless  of  outcomes  which 
are   humanly  desirable. 

Outcome. 

All  of  this  means  that  human  soci- 
ety as  it  exists  today  is  the  end-result 
of  these  various  factors. 

If  the  outcome  does  not  please  or 
suit  us  it  is  our  own  fault  and  the 
remedy  lies  in  our  own  hands — with 
the  proviso  that  we  realize  the  terms 
of  the  implied  contract  and  under- 
stand the  nature  of  the  instrumentali- 
ties at  our  disposal  with  which  to 
realize  our  purposes. 

Conditioned  on  Understanding. 

In  brief  then,  all  human  accom- 
plishment, all  invention,  all  attainment 
of  anything  "new,"  are  conditioned  on 
an  understanding  of  the  facts  and  laws 
of  nature  involved  and  the  choice  of 
an  appropriate  relation  to  them,  with 
reference   to   the   determined   purpose. 

Society  is  a  structure  based,  like 
everything  else  in  the  universe,  on  na- 
ture-given facts  and  laws. 

The  prerequisite  then  to  our  present 
endeavor,  to  map  out  a  course  of  so- 
cial progress,  is  to  have  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  facts  and  laws  of  na- 
ture involved:  of  which  the  first  item 
is  society's  composition. 

Elements. 

Man  is  a  strong,  skilful,  cunning  an- 
imal endowed  with  freedom  of  choice. 
Some  are  characteristically  Strong, 
some  arc  characteristically  Skilful, 
some  are  characteristically  Cunning. 
In  others,  again,  these  basic  traits  are 
merged   in  varying  proportions. 

The  Social  Elements — the  essential 
(or  main)  parts  of  society — then  are 
the  groups  formed  primarily  by  the 
working  out  of  the  instinctive  proclivi- 
ties which  I  briefly  sketched  in  the 
opening  part  of  the  first  series  of 
Technocracy. 

The  Economic  Traits,  strength, 
skill,  cunning  and  the  instincts,  to  live, 
to  make,  to  control,  to  take,  have 
founded  and  formed  our  social  struc- 
ture, in  which  they  are  still  recogniz- 
able as  its  four  great  elements:  Labor, 


Skill,  Tally,   ("Capital"),  Organization 
("Government"). 

Labor. 

By  Labor  I  mean  that  activity 
which  is  chiefly  muscular  effort.  It 
is  obviously  the  foundation  of  all 
other  activities  whatever,  and  as  such 
it  engrosses  the  effort  of  the  great 
majority — the   bulk  of  "the   people". 

Their  motive  urge  is  mainly  "to 
live".  They  are  impelled  by  no  other 
special  impetus  towards  any  particu- 
lar form  of  activity.  Those  who  do 
the  bulk  of  the  world's  work  there- 
fore find  self-expression  in  the  meas- 
ure in  which  their  work  conduces  to 
the  satisfaction  of  their  instinct  "to 
live". 

Thwart  this,  and  Labor  balks. 

Skill. 

Skill,  expressing  the  instinct  "to 
make",  must  be  taken  in  a  sense  wide 
enough  to  embrace  not  only  dex- 
terity, but  also  usable  knowledge  of 
matters  and  things  conducive  to  phys- 
ical accomplishment.  The  Skill  ele- 
ment of  society  holds  the  scientist  as 
well  as  the  artisan,  philosophy  as 
well  as  technology. 

The  function  of  such  a  Skill  ele- 
ment in  a  rationally,  purposefully  or- 
ganized society  is  self-evident.  How 
woefully  far  from  this  it  departs  in 
the  actually  existing  society  is  like- 
wise  self-evident. 

Tally. 

Whenever  team-work  is  under  way 
— or  for  that  matter  team-play — there 
is  need  of  a  record  of  each  man's 
.performance.  To  keep  such  record 
is  the  function  of  the  Tally  element 
in  society. 

This  colorless,  yet  all-important, 
function  the  cunning  instinct  "to 
take"  early  made  its  own.  The  em- 
bodiments of  that  urge  made  them- 
selves the  keepers  of  the  social  tally- 
sheet — the    "Financiers". 

Organization. 

The  Organization  element  coordi- 
nates and  supervises  the  work  of  so- 
ciety. It  prescribes  what  should  and 
what  should  not  be  done,  in  relation 
to    the   work   in    hand — the    purpose. 

This  element  embraces  the  "author- 


60 


TECHNOCRACY 


ities",     the     "government",     the     "em- 
ployers". 

Necessity  and  Freedom. 

The  quality  uniformly  exhibited  by 
all  four  social  elements  is  their  in- 
stinctiveness.  The}'  have  developed 
from   inward   necessity. 

But  there  is  no  such  inner  neces- 
sity for  their  interrelation,  their  co- 
ordination and  combination  into  a 
social  machine  as  a  whole.  That  is 
not  a  matter  of  instinctive  urge,  but 
a   problem   of   intelligence. 

The  present  chaotic  lack  of  co- 
ordination is  due  to  lack  of  social 
purposive  intelligence;  it  is  the  "nat- 
ural result  of  (and  has  been  de- 
termined by)  failure  (socially)  to 
exercise  Man's  transcendent  preroga- 
tive: Freedom  of  Choice — freedom  to 
choose  his  relation  to  natural  forces 
in  such  manner  as  to  make  them 
subserve  his  predetermined  united 
purpose — Community   objective. 

War  of  Instincts. 

Indeed,  each  element,  far  from 
uniting  with  the  others  in  purpose,  is 
"naturally"  fighting  every  other  for  a 
greater  gratification  of  its  own  "nat- 
ural" urge,  and  the  all-embracing 
urge  of  instinctive  self-preservation. 

It  is  in  highest  degree  probable 
that,  typically,  the  four  instinct-char- 
acterized groups  of  modern  society — 
the  Masses,  the  Artisans,  the  Em- 
ployers, the  Financiers — do  not  think. 
Thinking  is  not  their  social  func- 
tion; they  merely  respond  to  the 
urge  of  their  dominating  instincts — 
the  Masses  to  breed,  the  Artisan  to 
make,  the  Employer  to  energize,  the 
Financier  to  hoard — instincts  which 
characterize  separately  many  animals 
other  than   Man. 

These  various  social  groups  in- 
stinctively resist  any  social  conditions 
or  conventions  that  tend  to  hamper 
the  functioning  urge  of  their  char- 
acterizing instinct  and  instinctively 
struggle  for  its  greater  gratification — 
hence    our    "Social    Problems". 

What    Is    the    Social    Problem? 

The  Scientists — scattered  and  few 
in  number  but  socially  significant — do 
think;  it  is  their  social  function  to 
think,  to  rationalize  with  constructive 
imagination.        It      is      the      Scientist's 


function  to  solve  problems,  to  pio- 
neer, to  blaze  a  trail  into  the  un- 
known— to  illumine  the  path  of  Social 
Progress. 

Clearly  it  is  the  Scientist's  social 
function  to  straighten  out  social 
snarls,   to  unravel  social  tangles: 

To  so  organize  society  that  human 
freedom  and  self-expression  will  be 
the  product  of  and  result  from  the 
rational  relationing,  the  coordinate 
functioning  and  gratification  of  the 
human   instincts. 

That  is   the   Scientist's   great  task. 

That   is   our   Social    Problem. 

Purposeless. 

Socially,  Man  has  remained  a  mere- 
ly instinctively  acting  animal.  He  has 
never  unitedly  pondered  a  social  pur- 
pose, reflected  on  a  freely  chosen 
united    objective. 

When  our  inspection  of  the  Cali- 
fornia had  disclosed  its  constituent 
elements,  we  knew  as  readily  for 
what  purpose  they  were  to  work  to- 
gether: we  knew  what  the  battleship 
was  for. 

But  for  what  socially  determined 
end  do  our  Financiers  finance,  our 
inventors    invent,    our    laborers    labor? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  Society? 

Is  it  not  true  that,  judging  from 
society  as  it  is,  we  must  say  it  has 
no    purpose? 

Is  it  any  wonder  then,  that  we 
have  a  "Social  Problem",  and  that 
most  men  face  it  in  utter  bewilder- 
ment? 

Purpose  Necessary. 

To  deal  effectively  with  the  social 
problem  requires  then,  first  of  all, 
that  men  become  conscious  of  a  so- 
cial purpose.  And  a  very  little  reflec- 
tion will  disclose  the  enormous  dif- 
ference which  a  difference  of  purpose 
effects  with  regard  to  otherwise  iden- 
tical  processes. 

The  same  purposive  skill  that 
makes — feloniously  breaks. 

Bees  and  Profiteers. 

Our  profiteers  have  been  filling 
their  coffers  just  as  bees  are  filling 
their  combs.  Essentially  their  activ- 
ities proceed  from  the  same  source: 
instinctive   drive   to   hoard. 

Bee  and  profiteer  are  equally  "sel- 
fish". 


TECHNOCRACY 


61 


Each  acts  in  obedience  to  the  de- 
mand for  self-expression.  But  win  Te- 
as the  utility  of  the  profiteer's  hoard 
(if  it  has  any  true  utility  at  all)  is 
for  himself  alone  and  prejudicial  to 
society,  the  bee's  honey  hoard  is  for 
the  whole  hive. 

What  "Nature"  has  contrived  in 
thus  shaping  toward  an  ulterior  pur- 
pose the  instinctive  activities  of  a 
lowly  insect,  men  must  accomplish 
in  their  social  arrangements  by  the 
exercise  of  their  distinctively  human 
qualities:    reason,  freedom  and  purpose. 

No   Use  Calling  Names. 

It  is  quite  needless  and  useless  to 
single  out  the  profiteer  for  moral  ob- 
jurgation; and  in  many,  if  not  most 
cases  it  would  be  unjust  to  boot.  His 
profit-gouging  comes  not  from  moral 
depravity,  but  from  a  special  bent  of 
mind,  a  particular  ability:  and  our  so- 
ciety, imprimis  our  quaint  system  of 
"finance,"  gives  no  scope  to  that  abil- 
ity— except  to  gouge  the  public. 

Yet  that  ability — in  its  essence, 
instinctive  hoarding — has  a  social  util- 
ity of  the  highest  order.  And  in  an 
enlightened  society,  that  is  one  pur- 
posively  organized,  it  would  not  only 
find  scope  for  its  exercise  for  the 
public  good,  but  be  spontaneously  so 
exercised,  and  with  no  less  gratifica- 
tion   for    its    possessor. 

The  War  Illustration. 

Of  how  this  might  be  accomplished, 
the  War  has  already  given  us  a 
sketchy  illustration. 

The  men  who  were  called  to  mobi- 
lize the  social  forces  of  the  United 
States  were  commonly  the  very  men 
whose  pre-war  activities  had  been 
more  notorious  for  amassing  huge  pri- 
vate fortunes  than  celebrated  for  self- 
less  public   service. 

Between  the  high  officials  of  the 
War  Industries  Board,  the  Shipping 
Board,  and  so  forth,  and  the  member- 
ship of  a  "Millionaires'  Club"  there 
was  little  discernible  difference  of  per- 
sonnel. 

Charles  M.  Schwab,  the  finance 
magnate,  and  Schwab,  the  war-organ- 
izer, were  the  same  person. 

All  these  men  brought  to  their  so- 
cial, national  jobs  the  very  same  tal- 
ents   that    they    had    been    employing 


right   along    self-centeredly — unsocial- 

ly,  un-nationally.  The  work  they  did, 
their  proximate  functioning,  was  the 
same  as  before. 

But  what  a  difference  in  social  re- 
sult! 

They  were  acting  for  a  different 
purpose.  That  really  makes  up  the 
whole  of  the  difference. 

The  skill  that  feloniously  breaks — 
can  also  make. 

Where  these  hurriedly  assembled 
mobilizcrs  fell  short  of  efficacy  it  was 
in  the  measure  of  their  failure  to 
equate  completely  their  aims  with  the 
National  Objective. 

Greater   "Temptation." 

It  is  worth  while  considering  how 
it  was  that  men  pre-eminent  for  ca- 
pacity of  self-aggrandisement,  for 
their  ability,  to  put  it  in  plain  words, 
of  using  the  Nation  for  their  own  pri- 
vate aims  and  advantage,  came  to 
make  the   Nation's  purpose  their  own. 

The  outstanding  fact  is  that  they 
did  it  of  their  own  free  will. 

The  deeper  lying  fact  is  that  they 
responded  to  the  greater  inducement: 
public  good  was  a  stronger  stimulus, 
a  greater  "temptation,"  than  private 
profit. 

The  decisive  fact  is  that  such  re- 
sponse was  made  possible  and  induced 
by  the  (even  if  only  crude  and  tem- 
porary) rearrangement  of  the  social 
elements  for  the  attainment  of  a  Na- 
tional Purpose. 

Work. 
Add  to  this  the  perception,  for 
which  I  have  so  often  contended,  that 
there  is  no  blinder  folly  than  that 
which  sees  in  "work"  nothing  but  "the 
primal  curse";  and  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, doing — which  is  only  another 
name  for  work — is  the  very  essence 
and  end  of  man's  living,  provided 
only  it  be  the  purposive  work  of  his 
heart — and  you  have  the  whole  foun- 
dation of  the  psychology  of  social  re- 
construction. 

Order,  Purpose,  Freedom. 

Freedom  is  the  first  law  of  Man's 
nature. 

Any  social  convention  or  construc- 
tion which  does  violence  to  the  free- 
dom  of   the   individual,   of   the   group, 


62 


TECHNOCRACY 


or  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole,  is 
doomed   to   inevitable   failure. 

If  any  single  cause  is  to  be  given 
for  the  social  failure  which  we  now 
so  anxiously  face,  this  cause,  which 
earlier  I  have  formulated  as  the  ab- 
sence of  purposive  design,  may  well 
be  formulated  as  the  infraction  of  the 
basic  law  of  freedom.  For  in  a  chance- 
made  agglomeration  true  Freedom  can 
not  arise  and  act,  any  more  than  in  a 
void. 

It  is  only  in  a  true  Order,  in  a  pur- 
posively  designed  and  rationally  com- 
bined society,  that  Freedom  can  find 
the  conditions  for  its  effective  being, 
its  self-realizing  activity. 

Disorder — Jungle  Law — Restraint. 

Obviously  there  can  be  no  real  hu- 
man freedom  in  a  society  based  on 
primeval  jungle  law,  only  license  and 
restraint.  When  it  is  the  sole  acting 
principle,  (even  if  not  the  preaching 
of  the  pulpit)  that  he  may  take  who 
has  the  power,  and  he  shall  keep  who 
can,  what  can  be  the  issue  but  intra- 
social  warfare? — and,  still  more  re- 
pugnant, a  warfare  in  which  victory 
is  not  to  the  strong,  clean  and  cour- 
ageous, but  to  the  sordid,  tricky  and 
cunning. 

Fictitious  Freedom. 

Let  us  not  be  misled  by  surface  ap- 
pearances. Ostensibly  the  mine  owner 
has  more  freedom  than  the  miner,  the 
manufacturer  than  the  mechanic,  the 
merchant  than  the  clerk.  More  pro- 
foundly, one  is  found  to  be  as  unfree 
as  the  other.  For  freedom  implies  do- 
ing one's  reasoned  will.  But  as  mem- 
bers of  a  planless  social  monstrosity, 
no  man  can  be  a  free  agent.  All  are 
caught  in  the  same  chaotic  social 
tangle;  none  guide  their  course  by 
anything  better  than  chance  and  their 
instinctive    proclivities. 

Reason  and  Freedom. 
These  instincts,  as  I  have  pointed 
out,  are  natural  forces.  And  I  have 
also  shown  how  Man,  the  Mechanic, 
has  achieved  his  conquests  by  bring- 
ing his  Reason  and  Freedom  of  Choice 
to  bear  on  natural  forces:  not  in  crazy 
hope  of  changing  them,  but  to  make 
I  hem  the  realizing  means  for  his  rea- 
son  and   freedom — for   his   purpose. 


Even  thus  is  the  task  of  Man,  the 
Social    Mechanic. 

Our  reconstructive  effort  must  be 
so  to  reconstruct  or  rearrange  the 
social  mechanism  as  to  utilize  the 
unchangeable  instincts,  the  economic 
traits  (that  is,  the  natural  forces  in 
our  problem)  for  the  accomplishment 
of  a  united  social  purpose,  a  National 
Objective. 

Man  a  Spiritual  Entity. 

I  have  spoken  so  much  in  terms  of 
mechanics  that  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  guard  here  against  the  imputation 
that  I  conceive  of  human  life  in  such 
terms.  My  conception  is  indeed  the 
very  opposite  of  that.  Man  (though 
functioning  in  a  mechanistic  world 
through  a  bodily  machine)  is  above 
all  a  spiritual  entity;  and  his  ma- 
terial and  mechanical  concerns  and 
affairs  are  of  importance  only  in  so 
far  as  they  affect  his  spiritual  being. 

"Society." 

To  avoid  misunderstanding,  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  "Society"  as 
used  herein  means  the  total  of  all 
those  constituting  the  Nation — "tinker. 
tailor,  soldier,  sailor,  rich  man,  poor 
man,  beggarman,  thief",  et  al. ;  but 
that  Social  Functioning  includes  only 
a  limited  part  of  their  life  in  its 
totality. 

Social  functioning  is  the  service  part 
of  modern  collective  (gregarious)  life 
— for  material  well-being.  Its  relation 
to  national  life  is  analogous  to  that 
which  the  kitchen  and  service  part  in 
a  well  ordered  household  bears  to  the 
life  of  the  family. 

And,  national  economics  is  merely 
household  economics  expanded. 

"Society"  a  Machine. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  expound- 
ing at  length  my  social  philosophy. 
But  it  will  suffice,  as  a  guiding  thread, 
to  indicate  that  my  conception  of 
Society  is  the  corollary  of  my  concep- 
tion  of  Man. 

That  is,  I  view  society  as  a  mechan- 
ical contrivance  for  the  satisfaction 
of  man's  material  needs;  for  the  ul- 
terior object  of  freeing  his  spiritual 
self.  What  ministers  directly  to  his 
spiritual  wants  and  his  spiritual  life 
itself,    lies    as    clearly    outside    of    the 


TECHNOCRACY 


63 


social  organization,  as  outside-  the  ma- 
chine-shop. 

It  is  in  this  sense  also  that  I  hold 
that  man  does  not  exist  for  society 
(as  certain  ardent  social  reformers 
would  have  us  imagine),  but  society 
for  man. 

Within  this  frame,  society  resolves 
itself,  structurally  and  functionally, 
into  Production,  Distribution,  and 
Direction. 

Production. 

Under  the  term  Production  or  Pro- 
ductive Group  is  implied  that  part  of 
the  community  which  skillfully  deals 
with  nature's  forces  and  materials; 
which  familiarizes  itself  with  all  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  physical  environ- 
ment of  the  human  aggregation.  Its 
function  is  to  extract,  produce  and 
arrange  all  things  and  physical  con- 
ditions desirable  and  necessary  to  the 
well-being  of  the  organization. 

Skilful-Strong. 

Its  membership  is  characterized  by 
skill  and  strength,  by  curiosity  ration- 
alized into  desire  to  know,  and  by 
a  beaver-like  urge — the  instinct  to 
make. 

This  group  is  not  the  representative 
of  the  community,  nor  is  its  function 
that  of  guardian,  custodian,  organizer, 
supervisor,  or  unifier  of  the  composite 
group,  nor  has  it  rightly  any  of  these 
functions.  This  Productive  Group  is 
the  transforming  element  of  tJie  Social 
Machine. 

"Labor." 

The  Labor  Element  we  find  in  prac- 
tice also  assumes  the  functions  of  the 
Directive  and  Distributive  Groups  in 
many  ways  and  details.  And  attempt- 
ing to  perform  these  functions  so  for- 
eign to  its  character,  specialized  apti- 
tude, and  economic  trait,  it  does  much 
harm  and  adds  misdirected  energy  to 
existing  confusion. 

Taking  into  consideration,  however, 
the  history  of  this  group — its  age-long 
grinding  between  the  upper  and  nether 
millstones  of  Cunning-Strong  and 
Tricksy-Cunning — the  wonder  is,  not 
that  the  results  are  as  thev  are,  but 
rather  that  this  group  still  persists 
in  its  efforts  to  perform  any  of  its 
rightful  functions,  and  that  it  has  not 


long  ago  by  the  misdirection  of  its 
energy  wrecked  the  whole  structure; 
as  it  has  often,  seemingly,  been  on  the 
ragged  edge  of  doing.  Were  it  not  for 
its  ineradicable  instinctive  urge,  this 
doubtless  would  have  been  the  result. 
It  is  not  without  significance  that 
the  Distributive  Group  is  satisfied 
with  present  conventions  and  desper- 
ately fears  change,  while  the  Product- 
ive Group  is  fiercely  dissatisfied,  and 
welcomes   any  change. 

"Efficiency." 

"Production"  has  been  of  late  very 
much  to  the  fore  in  the  public  prints. 
The  whole  civilized  world,  our  own 
country  included,  we  are  told,  is  not 
producing  enough.  Production,  we  arc 
told,  must  be  increased  by  greater  in- 
dustry   and    "efficiency." 

As  an  inventor,  that  is  one  engaged 
in  devising  ways  and  means  for  do- 
ing something  in  a  new  and  better 
way,  I  may  be  credited  with  having 
a  sufficiently  high  regard  for  effi- 
ciency. Yet  I  own  that,  as  currently 
conceived  and  employed,  "efficiency" 
is  my  pet  aversion.  Nothing  provokes 
me   to  more  laughter  or  anger. 

A  notion  of  efficiency  that  focuses 
on  the  product,  instead  of  the  pro- 
ducer, misses  the  point  completely. 
Such  "efficiency"  is  really  (humanly 
and   socially)   inefficiency. 

Therefore,  when  I  outline  the  task 
of  social  reconstruction  as  an  appro- 
priate organization  of  production,  dis- 
tribution, and  direction,  there  are  to 
be  constantly  held  in  mind  and  applied 
the  ultimate  criteria:  a  free  unfolding 
of  the  spirit,  a  free  manhood,  a  free 
nation. 

Distribution. 

Under  the  term  Distribution  or  Dis- 
tributive Group  are  implied  those  indi- 
viduals whose  function  in  the  social 
organization  is  to  keep  tally  and  effect 
the  distribution  of  products  and 
wealth  equitably  and  impartially  to 
all  the  individuals  of  all  the  groups 
in  accordance  with  their  effectiveness 
and  the  best  interests  of  the  commun- 
ity at  large. 

A   truly  magnificent  function! 

Capitalist. 

The  "Capitalist  Element"  in  prac- 
tice,  as   the   "Money   Power"   or   "the 


64 


TECHNOCRACY 


Interests",  interferes  most  energetic- 
ally and  unjustifiably  in  matters 
wholly  outside  its  sphere. 

It  has,  in  fact,  assumed,  through  its 
taxing  power,  the  functions  of  "Gov- 
ernment" and  control  over  the  life  and 
activities  of  every  individual  in  the 
community.  It  has  missed  its  way  and 
is  more  distorted  (if  such  be  possible) 
than  either  of  the  other  groups.  To  it 
is  attributable  in  greater  measure  the 
social  disturbance  and  confusion  at 
present  existing. 

This  group  is  characterized  by  an 
economic  trait  due  to  its  (Tricksy- 
Cunning)  origin — its  members  have 
an  inherent  parasitic  tendency  and  a 
bee-like  hoarding  urge — the  instinct 
to    take. 

Tally. 

This  group  is  not  the  community's 
representative  any  more  than  is  the 
Productive  group;  it  is  not  the  guard- 
ian or  unifier;  nor  has  it  any  of  the 
functions  of  government,  though  it 
has  assumed  many  of  them.  Neither 
does  it  deal  with  nature's  forces  or 
materials;  it  has  no  concern  with  phy- 
sical environment  or  natural  re- 
sources; it  does  not  extract  or  pro- 
duce things  from  nature's  stores;  it 
does  not  make,  produce,  or  create 
wealth;  its  functions  are  neither  gov- 
ernmental nor  productive  in  any  sense. 

It  is  simply  the  bookkeeper,  the 
clerk,  of  the  community — the  record- 
ing or  tabulating  element  of  the  so- 
cial machine. 

Tricksy-Cunning. 

And  yet  it  has  arranged  conventions 
of  distribution  for  its  own  exclusive 
benefit. 

It  has  appointed  itself  an  unofficial 
and  irresponsible  custodian  of  the 
community's  wealth  in  process  of  dis- 
tribution. Out  of  the  community's 
wealth  flowing  through  its  channels, 
it  pays  itself  such  wages  as  it  deems 
its  due  for  performing  these  services 
and  functions.  In  addition  to  this,  it 
retains  possessio'n  of  various  forms  of 
conventional  increment  accruing  to 
the  flowing  wealth  during  the  distrib- 
utive process.  These  increments  are 
deemed,  by  tacit  acceptance  of  con- 
ventions made  by  the  Distributive 
Group,  to  be  its  property.   So  this  ac- 


quisitive group  acts  as  distributive 
agent  for  producer  and  the  commun- 
ity, and  custodian  of  the  products, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  is  active  as 
an  untrammeled  trader  on  its  own 
behalf  in  and  with  the  community's 
wealth. 

Direction. 

By  the  terms  Direction  or  Directive 
Group  is  implied  that  part  of  the  na- 
tion which  neither  produces  nor  dis- 
tributes, but  represents  the  whole 
composite  group,   the  community. 

It  is  that  part  which,  as  representa- 
tive, is  guardian,  supervisor,  and  uni- 
fier. Its  function  is  to  facilitate  the 
correct  working  of  all  the  ramifying 
parts  of  the  other  elements,  so  as  to 
bring  about  harmonious  co-action  of 
the  entire  social  organization.  It  is 
the  "governor"  or  strain  and  speed 
equalizer  of  the  social  machine. 

Government. 

The  "Government",  in  practice,  ex- 
ercises all  these  social  functions  in- 
extricably tangled  up  with  the  pro- 
ductive and  distributive  elements  in 
most  of  their  details. 

Government  makes,  manufactures, 
and  exploits;  it  keeps  tally  of  pro- 
ducts and  distributes  them  more  or 
less  ineffectively;  and  while  remain- 
ing Government  in  name,  it  per- 
forms all  these  other  functions  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  which  most  definitely 
characterizes    it    in    reality. 

This  confusion  of  function  seems 
to  be  the  logical  outcome  of  the 
(Cunning-Strong)  genesis  of  the 
group,  with  its  inherent  lust  for 
power  and  dominion — the  instinct 
to    control. 

Social  Mechanic's  Task. 

What  then  is  the  task  of  Man,  the 
Social    Mechanic? 

Primarily,  it  is  to  extricate  the  ba- 
sic three-fold  elements  of  the  social 
mechanism  from  the  present  confu- 
sion and  distortion;  and,  in  the  light 
of  and  under  the  guidance  of  Science, 
so  to  organize  these  fundamental 
functions:  Production,  Distribution, 
and  Direction,  that  they  will  serve 
the  social  purpose,  the  national  ob- 
jective. 


TECHNOCRACY 


65 


What  the  Trouble  Is. 

As  it  stands  now,  the  Social  Ma- 
chine is  a  product  of  nature-made 
conditions,  and  not  a  construction  of 
self-conscious  human  intelligence  di- 
rected to  the  accomplishment  of  a 
predetermined    human    purpose. 

Man  has  never  attempted  to  organ- 
ize his  Social  Machinery  to  accom- 
plish a  socially  unified  object.  And 
Nature  docs  not  stop,  simply  because 
man  acts  like  a  fool.  Nature  truly 
abhors  a  vacuum — especially  a  va- 
cuity of  intelligence. 

Man  has  tinkered  with  many  social 
details — he  has  never  tackled  the  So- 
cial  Problem! 

That  is  the  whole  trouble  with  the 
Social  Machine. 

Social  Problem 

The  situation  is  not  unlike  that  of 
a  machine-shop  in  which  a  lot  of 
mentally  deranged  mechanics  would 
find  themselves  while  gradually  and 
unequally  convalescing  toward  ra- 
tionality. 

They  find  the  engine  and  machin- 
ery (Nature)  all  running  smoothly, 
but  also  they  find  themselves  (with 
more  or  less  bewilderment)  indi- 
vidually and  in  bunches,  marvelously 
and  solemnly  busy  doing,  with  great 
skill,  all  manner  of  grotesque  stunts: 
stoking  the  furnaces  with  their  wom- 
en and  children,  feeding  their  young 
men  to  the  ponderous  grinding  and 
crushing  machines;  tirelessly  dump- 
ing the  most  valued  and  useful  prod- 
ucts of  their  bodies,  brains,  and 
skill,  to  the  smashing  "dead-falls" 
and  scrapping  "go-devils",  to  be 
crushed  to  human  slimes  and  refuse; 
and  in  a  multitude  of  other  ways  in- 
geniously employing  their  (Nature- 
made)  facilities  and  capabilities  to 
produce  all  kinds  of  silly  outcomes — 
unlikable  to  their  awakening  intelli- 
gence. 

The  condition  thus  disclosed  they 
call   their   "Social   Problem". 

Man  Is  Free. 

Man  has  a  living  Godlike  soul 
which  is  free.  As  a  "person" — a  spir- 
itual entity — a  Man  is  not  a  machine, 
is  not  subject  to  control  by  any 
power  in  the  Universe  except  him- 
self, and   except   in    so   far   as — by   an 


exercise    of    his     freedom — he     volun- 
tarily   submits. 

In  so  far  as  he  does  submit  to 
force  or  irrational  control,  he  be- 
comes a  mere  product — a  machine; 
he  contracts  his  own  soul  and  di- 
minishes that  transcendent  quality  of 
Godship  which  makes  him  a  Man — 
his   Freedom. 

A   Purposive  Social   Machine. 

I  firmly  believe  that  Man  is,  and 
the  Universe  is,  so  constituted  that 
Human  Intelligence  can  construct  a 
Rational  Social  Machine;  that  if  Man 
earnestly  desires  and  has  the  cour- 
age seriously  to  undertake  the  task, 
he  can  make  an  infinitely  more 
smooth-running,  humanly  efficient,  and 
humanly  purposive  arrangement  than 
the  humanly  objectless,  inhumanly 
cruel,  and  incredibly  wasteful  Stone 
Age  animalistic  abortion  to  which  he 
now  submits — that  Man  can  make  a 
Social  Machine  worthy  of  Man,  the 
World    Mechanic. 

Human   Intelligence  or  Animal 
Instincts? 

"Nature",  while  on  one  hand  seem- 
ingly reckless  of  "waste",  is  on  the 
other  obviously  economical — struct- 
ures, functions,  and  "gifts"  not  used, 
atrophy   and   disappear. 

If  then  Man,  in  social  relation,  fails 
to  use  his  "gifts",  these  will  atrophy 
■ — be  recalled.  And  Man's  social  devel- 
opment will  run  not  in  accord  with  his 
intelligence,  but  in  accord  with  his 
animal  instincts,  dominated  by  the 
most  basic  of  all,  the  anti-social  (in- 
dividual) self-preservation  instinct — ■ 
dog-eat-dog — jungle  law. 

Science   a    Fulcrum. 

It  may  seem  that  I  have  made  of 
the  existing  social  disorder  an  ar- 
raignment of  Man's  competence.  I 
have  charged  him  with  folly,  with  fail- 
ure to  use  his  greatest  gifts:  reason 
and    freedom. 

Perhaps  he  can  bring  forward  exten- 
uations. Perhaps  the  time  had  not 
come — till    now. 

Perhaps  there  has  been  neither  lack 
of  human  intelligence  nor  lack  of  wil- 
lingness to  use  it.  Perhaps  he  really 
could   not   use   it,   did   not   know   how 


66 


TECHNOCRACY 


For  one  thing  he  lacked,  which  has 
come  only  in  our  own  day:  Experi- 
mental   Science. 

Science  is  a  firm  fulcrum  for  the 
lever  of  thought. 

It  is  a  fulcrum  securely  resting  upon 
the   eternal   facts   and   laws   of  nature. 

It  is  a  fulcrum  that  rests  upon 
phenomenal  truth,  which  rests  upon 
Nature's  immanent  Essential  Truth 
that  makes  for  universal  right-eous- 
ness — mechanistic  validity,  personal 
worth,    social   right. 

Technocracy. 

The  philosophers  and  thinkers  of 
the  past  lacked  that  fulcrum.  At  the 
best,  they  could  be  only  good  guess- 
ers.  There  is  no  lack  of  intelligence 
or  high  spirituality  in  Plato's  "Re- 
public", in  More's  "LTtopia",  and  in 
their   many   followers. 

But    they    all    lacked,    and    all    they 

Fernwald,   Berkeley,    California. 
November  21,  1920. 


lacked  was,  the  firm  fulcrum  of 
Science. 

This   we    now    possess. 

Now  only  has  Technocracy  become 
a   realizable   ideal. 

This  transcendent  acquisition  and 
necessary  instrumentality — Science — 
is  now  ours  to  freely  use  or  freely 
abuse — abuse  to  our  irrecoverable 
hurt  or  utilize  for  our  ever  increasing 
and   true   prosperity. 

This  is  our  signal  acquisition  as 
compared  with  the  past,  our  signifi- 
cant point  of  progress.  And  by  its  aid 
(if  we  choose)  we  (socially  still  in 
the  pre-scientific  period)  may  at  last 
achieve  also  social  progress. 

And  thus,  by  the  means  of  nation- 
ally organized  Science,  we  may  be- 
come the  first  real  nation,  a  truly 
united  people  with  a  worth-while  na- 
tional objective — a  true  Industrial 
Democracy — an  intelligentlv  purpose- 
ful TECHNOCRACY. 


CAN  MODERN  MECHANIZED  SOCIETY  SAFELY  RELY 
UPON  TRADITIONAL  ECONOMIC  CUSTOMS? 


Reprinted    from    the    Gazette,    Berkeley,    California 
Copyright,  1921,  by  W.  H.  Smyth. 

Technocracy 

Third  Series 

PART    I. 

Animal-man  and  Man-animal: 

A  Working  Understanding  of  Man  the  Social  Unit. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

FOREWORD. 

It  is  very  important  in  these  days  of  confusion  that  those  who  are 
trying  to  make  this  a  better  and  more  liveable  world,  should  understand 
one  another  in  every  way  possible.  For  this  reason  it  gives  me  pleasure 
to  say  that,  having  read  Part  I  of  my  neighbor  Mr.  Smyth's  Tech- 
nocracy (Third  Series),  I  find  myself  in  hearty  accord  with  it  in  the 
main;  especially  in  the  central  place  which  he  gives  to  Personality  and 
Freedom.  This  evaluation  of  Personality  opens  a  way  to  a  moral  and 
spiritual,   as  well   as   social   and   industrial  advance. 

With    the    severity    of    Mr.    Smyth's    indictment    of   early    man    and    of 
modern    society    I    cannot    agree;    but  his   forward   look   and    many    of   his 
ideas  are  vigorous  and  suggestive. 
June  17,  1921.  JOHN  WRIGHT  BUCKHAM. 

(John  Wright  Buckham,  D.  D.,  is  the  distinguished  scholar  who  holds 
the  chair  of  Christian  Theology  in  the  Pacific  School  of  Religion.  He 
is  the  author  of  "Personality  and  the  Christian  Ideal,"  "Progressive  Re- 
ligious Thojught  in  America,"  "Mysticism  and  Modern  Life,"  etc.) 

NOTE:  The  First  and  Second  Series  of  these  Technocracy  essays 
were  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  social  Mechanics;  in  the  present  series 
the  emphasis  is  upon  the  still  more  important  element  in  our  Social 
Problem — the  social  mechanic  himself — Man. 

This  Third  Technocracy  Series  aims  at  a  "working  understanding" 
of  man,  that  supreme  paradox — a  free  spirit  expressing  itself  individually 
and  socially  through  a  physical  body.  It  aims  at  such  understanding 
of  man,  lacking  which,  an  understanding  of  "society"  cannot  be  had, 
and  without  which  a  solution  of  our  Social  Problem  is  an  obvious  impos- 
sibility. 

Part  I:  Deals  with  the  spirit  of  man — his  unconditioned  self — per- 
sonality; Human  relationship  to  a  universe  at  once  creative  and  conditioned 
by  its  own  laws;  and  shows  how  by  knowledge  of  and  purposive  action 
toward  those  laws,  the  human  being  gains  freedom  and  action  worthy  of 
his  free  essence.  Thus  man  can  "humanize"  man's  own  animal  nature, 
and  produce  the  social  instrumentalities  appropriate  to  "human"  self- 
expression. 

Personality.  wise    hamper    its    self-expression,    but 

The    human     personality    we    know  eacri     would     still     remain     gloriously 

as     Christ,     or     as     Socrates,     or     as  human,  ^and    act    in    accord    with    his 

Shakespeare,    or    as    Newton,    impris-  "human"   character, 

oned  (as  was,  indeed,  almost  the  case  These    extreme    examples    serve    to 

of    the    philosopher)    in    the    body    of  illustrate     a     general    proposition     ap- 

a     gorilla,    would     not    be     essentially  plying  to  all  men. 

changed    thereby.      The    inappropriate  It      is      that      intangible      elemental 

embodiment    might,    it   is    true,    some-  something     (defying    analysis),    spirit, 


68 


TECHNOCRACY 


soul,  personality — call  it  what  you 
will — that  transforms  the  animal-man 
into  the  man-animal — into  a  human 
being. 

Personality    a    Basic    Fact. 

As  to  this  there  can  be  no  argu- 
ment. It  is  cither  obvious,  self-evi- 
dent, or  all  discussion  regarding  hu- 
manity— individually  or  collectively — 
here    stops. 

Such  as  cannot  accept  this  basic 
proposition  will  merely  waste  their 
time  to  travel  with  me  further  on 
the  tour  of  investigation  I  contem- 
plate. 

To  those,  however,  who,  like  my- 
self, deem  it  axiomatic,  it  should  be 
of  surpassing  interest  to  join  in  an 
earnest  effort  to  investigate  how  the 
wondrous  combination  of  free  spirit 
and  physical  machine  —  personality 
and  animal  body— coact  and  function 
together  in  the  practical  affairs  of 
social    life. 

It  Is! 

It  is  not  of  pertinent  interest  here 
to  inquire  how  or  by  what  omni- 
potent process  of  invention  or  by 
what  miracle  of  Cosmic  Self-expres- 
sion this  unique  combination  came 
to    be. 

It  is! 

That   fact   is   our   starting  point. 

Starting  with  this  it  will  be  the 
aim  of  this  essay  to  get  such  Avork- 
ing  understanding  of  Man,  as  dis- 
played in  his  social  activity,  as  will 
aid  in  solving  some  of  the  difficul- 
ties (flowing  from  this  fact)  which 
confront  us  in  our  troublous  "Social 
Problem". 

Man  an  Animal — Plus. 

Man,  then,  in  one  respect  is  truly 
an  animal,  linked  to  his  animal  an- 
cestors by  his  physical  structure  and 
his  animal  instincts.  Thus,  like  other 
animals,  he  is  subject  to  all  natural 
laws  which  undeviatingly  govern  ani- 
mate nature  —  heat  scorches,  cold 
chills,  falling  rocks  crush,  torrents 
whelm,  starvation  weakens,  sex  de- 
sires and  other  passions  drive  furi- 
ously. 

What  makes  Man  more  and  other 
than  an  animal  is  his  self-conscious- 
ness,     his      reason,      his      constructive 


imagination,  his  freedom  of  choice; 
in  a  word,  his  Spirit — not  possessed 
either  by  his  brute  ancestors  or  by 
his    present    day    animal    fellows. 

Human  in  Humanity. 

Accepting  these  propositions  (not 
as  verbal  or  academic  admissions 
but — )  as  valid  in  practical  effect,  it 
at  once  ceases  to  be  matter  for  won- 
der that  sometimes  Man  acts  like 
an  animal,  at  others  with  God-like 
purpose;  and — inhumanity  in  man  be- 
comes merely  the  failure  of'  the  hu- 
man   in    humanity. 

Further,  it  is  obvious  that  man's 
acquisition  of  human  qualities  does 
not  change  the  facts  of  heat,  cold, 
torrents,  etc. — nature — but  does  pro- 
foundly change  man's  effective  re- 
sponse. 

Self-Conscious. 

Self-consciousness  enabled  Man  to 
perceive  himself  as  something  other 
and  apart  from  the  rest  of  nature  both 
organic  and  inorganic,  including  his 
animal  fellows  and  his  fellow  men.  He 
became  to  himself  an  individual,  an 
entity  in  whom  he  has  overwhelming 
personal  interest.  He  knows  himself 
as  a  source  of  pains  and  pleasures  dis- 
tinctly his  own;  an  entity  whose  ani- 
mate and  inanimate  friends  and  ene- 
mies are  matters  personaT  to  himself — 
his  friends  to  be  favored  by  him,  his 
enemies  to  be — by  him — fought  and 
destroyed. 

Reason. 

His  dawning  reason,  supplementing 
instinct  , taught  him  that  the  shade  of 
a  tree  or  of  a  rock  mitigates  the 
scorching  heat  of  the  sun  and  the 
piercing  cold  of  the  blizzard;  that  by 
suitably  locating  his  distance  from  a 
devouring  blaze  he  changes  its  pain- 
ful effects  into  pleasant  sensations; 
that  the  torrent  that  could  sweep  him 
to  destruction  may  also  transport  him 
without  effort,  in  a  desired  direction. 
These  and  many  other  useful  lessons 
his  reason  sums  up  in  the  dimly  per- 
ceived but  profoundly  true  generaliza- 
tion,  that: 

Animate  and  inanimate  surround- 
ings ("environment")  are  friendly  or 
otherwise  to  Man  depending  on  how 
he  acts  toward  them.  (Religion  and 
Science — the  two  most  energizing  pro- 


TECHNOCRACY 


69 


ducts  of  organized  human  thought — 
flow  directly  and  derive  their  energy 
from  this  simple  notion). 

Imagination. 

Then  comes  his  constructive  imagi- 
nation, mentally  reconstructing  earlier 
pleasures  and  pains,  and  urging  him 
to  renew  in  physical  realization  the 
pictured  joys  of  the  past  and  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  remembered  mis- 
haps. 

Choice. 

Last,  and  most  important,  freedom 
of  choice,  guided  by  experience,  rea- 
son, and  imagination,  permits  him  to 
select  which  rock,  which  torrent, 
which  thing,  which  act  (out  of  the 
many  and  varieties  of  each  presented 
for  choice)  as  best  serving  the  prob- 
able accomplishment  of  his  desires, 
and  which  to  reject  to  avoid  mishaps. 

So  starts  humanity's  upward  course. 

In  breathing  into  animal-man  His 
spirit,  verily!  "God  blessed  them,  (and 
truly!)  God  said  unto  them:  Be  fruit- 
ful and  multiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth   and   subdue   it." 

Nature. 

The  brute's  acquisition  of  "human" 
qualities  did  not  and  does  not  change 
the  facts  of  nature  nor  the  effects  of 
its  laws.  It  is  equally  clear  that  it 
did  and  does  profoundly  modify  man's 
possible  and  probable  response  to 
these  and  hence  their  effect  upon  him. 

Heat,  cold,  rock,  torrent,  animal  in- 
stincts, "passions"  arc  still  as  potential 
of  destruction  as  ever,  but  not  to  man 
— if  he  so  chooses. 

All  nature  and  its  urges,  all  its 
forces  and  its  laws  have  become  po- 
tentially his  friends,  if  he  so  chooses 
and — his  choice  is  constructively  and 
rationally  purposive. 

A    Social    Principle. 

Clearly  then  (let  me  nail  it  here,  in 
passing):  It  is  a  first  principle  of  so- 
cial design  to  so  arrange  and  order 
the  social  structure  that  the  animal 
instincts  may  not  run  counter  to  and 
shall  act  in  unison  with  collective  "hu- 
man" purposes.  And  therefore  it  be- 
comes a  principle  of  social  construc- 
tion to  provide  avenues  of  utilization 
for  these  indestructible  natural  forces, 
in  substantially  the  same  manner  and 


method  by  which  the  mechanic  m>  suc- 
cessfully deals  with  like  problems  of 
seemingly  conflicting  and  indestruct- 
ible  forces  in   machine  design. 

Free. 

Before  there  can  be  a  group  there 
must,  of  course,  be  units  to  form  it; 
so  there  must  be  individuals  before 
there  can  be  society.  The  character 
and  possibilities  of  a  society  must 
necessarily  rest  upon  the  nature  and 
capabilities  of  its  component  individ- 
uals. 

Alan,  as  we  arc  agreed,  is  a  free 
spirit,  acting,  functioning  or  express- 
ing itself  through  the  medium  of  an 
animal  body  that  is  an  animate  physi- 
cal  machine. 

In  using  the  word  "free"  there  is 
implied  activity,  and  not  merely  cha- 
otic motion,  but  choiceful,  purposeful 
action:  preference  to  go  in  this  direc- 
tion rather  than  that,  to  do  some  par- 
ticular thing  rather  than   some   other. 

An    Infernal   World. 

This  free  choosing  man,  however, 
has  become  conscious  of  himself ;  con- 
scious that  he  is;  conscious  not  only 
that  he  is,  but  (to  some  "more  or  less 
satisfactory  extent)  where  he  is  at, 
what  he  is  up  against.  He  has  become 
conscious  to  the  extent  at  least  that 
he  is  in  a  surrounding  world  of  physi- 
cal things  and  forces,  a  world  that 
jogs  along  in  most  unpleasant  disre- 
garded indifference  to  his  wishes,  if 
indeed  not  diabolically  adverse  from 
them.  Naively,  this  to  him  is  an  in- 
fernal world  of  storms  and  floods, 
scorching  heats  and  freezing  colds, 
rocks  and  sharp  things  which  pain- 
fully bark  his  shins  and  tear  his  flesh, 
and  of  a  myriad  beasts,  demons,  and 
bugaboos  that  will  surely  make  an  end 
of  him — if  he  don't  look  out! 

Even  his  own  particular  body,  that 
is  his  own  inseparable  property,  has 
tricks  and  manners  of  its  own  which 
cause  him  no  end  of  discomfort  and 
much  annoyance;  it  experiences  freez- 
ing chills,  torrid  fevers,  furious  pas- 
sions, exhausting  fatigue,  recurrently 
ravenous  hunger;  its  joints  stiffen,  its 
parts  break,  its  sense  organs  get  agley 
in  a  multitude  of  disconcerting  ways; 
and  all  these  haps  happen  quite  re- 
gardless of  his  wants  and  wishes;  and 


70 


TECHNOCRACY 


surely  will  make  an  end  of  him — if  he 
don't  look  out! 

Circumventing    Its    Devils. 

Having,  however,  an  overwhelming 
interest  in  and  regard  for  himself, 
man  calls  on  his  reason — poor  and 
imperfect  though  it  be — to  aid  him 
in  avoiding  these  various  mishaps 
and  circumventing  the  malignity  of 
their   diabolical    instigators. 

Unfriendly  haps  and  malignant 
traps  are  so  incessant  that  poor 
reason  has  a  mighty  busy  time  of  it 
and  is  kept  everlastingly  on  the  job, 
alert  and  at  work,  and  with  no  union 
or  umpire   to   call   time. 

Experience. 

So  by  constant  exercise,  and  a 
growing  stock  of  remembered  and 
available  experiences  of  past  suc- 
cesses, hard-worked  reason  grad- 
ually develops  and  gets  more  and 
miore  effective  to  meet  emergencies. 
Partial  successes  in  the  past  are  im- 
proved upon  in  the  present;  previous 
seemingly  successful  circumventings 
which  subsequent  experience  proves 
to  have  brought  worse  consequences 
than  those  intended  to  be  avoided, 
are  next  time  handled  with  more 
caution. 

Thus  slowly  is  evolved  the  notion 
that  not  alone  is  the  present  diffi- 
culty to  be  met,  but  the  possible  or 
probable  effect  of  the  remedy  is  to 
be  taken  into  consideration,  as  an 
essential  element  of  every  remedial 
measure. 

Now   vs.   Later. 

So  reason  makes  possible  the 
weighing  and  measuring  of  wants 
and  wishes:  makes  possible  the  ra- 
tional comparison  of  later  comfort 
against  present  gratification;  makes 
possible  to  put  into  the  scales  of 
experience  the  fvrn  of  gorging  now, 
regardless  of  starvation  later,  to  be 
weighed  against  less  joyous  present 
moderation,  regardful  of  freedom 
from    later    total    abstinence. 

Mr.  W.  Man— A  Parable 
Mr.    Wise    Man,    very    hungry,   very 
tired,   and   miles    from   home   and   din- 
ner;   luscious   looking,   good   smelling, 
dainty    tasting    "mushrooms" 


Beast  Hunger  growls  and  whines 
pitifully  protesting     .     .     . 

Reason   whispers:     "Caution!" 

Appetite  urges  in  loud  and  imperi- 
ous tones:  "Eat!  eat!  satisfy  the 
beast    lest   worse    happen!" 

Reason   whispers:     "Caution!" 

And  all  alert,  on  the  job,  nudges 
Imagination,  to  (pictorially)  twist 
Man's  in'ards  into  hard  and  painful 
knots,  vividly  re-presenting  those 
physical  and  almost  disastrous  ex- 
periences of  last  summer. 

"Look!"  says  Reason  .  .  .  "and 
— squirm!  It's  safer  to  squirm  now 
at  imaginary  kinks  than  later  at 
real   knots   in   your   little   insides." 

"Remember,"  says  Reason,  "and 
consider,  if  you  want  to  continue 
your  mundane  existence  and  really 
value  those  plans  you  seemed  to 
have  so  much  at  heart — those  seduc- 
tive fungi  may  not  be  mushrooms — 
caution!" 

"Look! — consider  the  pictures,  and 
squirm   some   more!" 

"Then,  forget  your  fatigue,  disre- 
gard your  hunger,  take  up  a  couple  of 
holes  in  your  belt,  and  strike  for 
home." 

"Get    busy! — March!" 

So  Mr.  W.  Man — listening  to  the 
voice  of  reason — gets  home,  still  very 
hungry,  still  very  tired,  enjoys  his 
dinner,  realizes  his  plans,  and  his 
days   are  long  in   the  land. 

"Good." 

Thus  reason  substitutes  rational 
desire  and  higher  aspirations  for 
"natural"  instincts  and  "lower"  ap- 
petite. Sets  up  mediate  and  dis- 
tant ends,  as  against  immediate 
gratification:  the  ultimate  (and  last- 
ing) against  the  immediate  (tem- 
porary and  lesser)    good. 

"Good"  clearly  implies  preference; 
a  "good"  direction  is  that  in  which 
one  would  go;  a  "good"  object,  the 
thing  one  would  possess;  a  "good" 
action,  that  which  one  would  willing- 
ly do;  freedom  in  esse — effective 
freedom. 

To  Cunning  Strong  "good"  means 
unlimited  control;  to  Skilful  Strong, 
"good"  means  unlimited  opportunity 
for  the  fruitful  exercise  of  construc- 
tive skill;  to  Tricksy  Cunning  "good" 
means    unlimited    scope    for    acquisi- 


TECHNOCRACY 


71 


tion;  to  Simple  Strong  "good"  means 
opportunity  to  live  unhampered  his 
simple    life. 

Thus,  to  the  Strong,  or  the  Skilful, 
or  the  Cunning,  or  the  Simple, 
"good"  means  the  realization  of  his 
characterizing  wants  and  wishes.  To 
each  and  all,  however,  (regardless  ot 
nature-determined  instincts,  appe- 
tites, urges,  or  economic  traits,) 
"good"   means   to  "make   good." 

It  means  self-initiated  develop- 
ment   to    the    nth    degree. 

"Good"  means  realized  "personal" 
freedom. 

"There  Are  Others." 

Self-conspiousness  it  is  which 
makes  possible  that  momentous 
question:  what  will  it  profit  me? 
Wherein    is    it    to    my    "good"? 

But  the  stupendous  fact  of  self- 
consciousness  brings  with  it  another 
rivalling   it   in   importance. 

As,  humanly  speaking,  there  could 
be  no  "In"  lacking  an  "Out,"  no 
"Top"  lacking  a  "Bottom,"  no  "East" 
lacking  a  "West":  so  there  could  be 
no  recognition  of  "Self"  lacking  rec- 
ognition of  "Other-selves",  no  "Self- 
consciousness"  lacking  its  twin, 
"Other-consciousness." 

The   Me   and   The    Many. 

This  recognition,  then,  that  "there 
are  others,"  coupled  with  that  basic 
human  discovery:  animate  and  inani- 
mate surroundings  (environment) 
are  friendly  or  otherwise  to  "me" 
depending  on  how  I  act  toward 
"them,"  necessarily  brings  about  the 
question:  what  must  I  do  to  profit 
others? — and  culminates  in  the  higher 
and  more  complex  self-consciousness 
in  which  the  "me"  is  not  only  con- 
scious of,  but  rationally  reciprocal 
with,    the    many. 

Hence  comes  the  "family,"  the 
group,   society — the   Nation. 

A  Rocky  Road. 

But  it  is  a  long,  long  way  from 
these  basic  notions  of  individual 
character  to  their  functioning  smooth- 
ly in  a  rationally  organized  society. 
And  truly!  unfriendly  haps  and 
malignant  traps  are  so  fearsomely 
numerous,  and  confusingly  incessant, 
that   poor   undeveloped   human   reason 


has  a  mighty  busy  time  of  it  dodging 
social  disaster  by  the  way.  For  the 
social  journey  is  not  alone  through 
an  unmapped  country  fertile  of  se- 
ductive poisonous  fungi;  it  is  also  be- 
set with  all  manner  of  pitfalls,  treach- 
erous morasses  of  ignorance,  rock 
barriers  of  established  custom,  raging 
torrents  of  ancient  superstition,  ma- 
lignant difficulties  (many  real,  more 
imaginary),  all  kinds  and  descriptions 
of  irrationalities.,  bestial  instincts,  de- 
mon appetites,  and  goggle-eyed  bol- 
sheviki  bugaboos,  that  surely  will 
make  and  end  of  us — if  we  don't 
look  out! 

Working  Understanding. 

In  general  terms  our  "working  un- 
derstanding"  amounts  to   this: 

Alan  is  a  free  spirit,  and  as  such  is 
outside  and  beyond  the  laws  which 
govern  the  physical  universe.  His 
thoughts  (personal  and  spiritual  life) 
are  his  own  and  have  only  self-im- 
posed boundaries. 

Man  is  an  animal  —  an  animate 
mechanism — and  as  such  he  is  subject 
to  and  conditioned  by  all  the  laws  of 
nature,   mechanistic   and   animalistic. 

Man  is  a  combination  of  spirit  and 
animal  and  as  such  (potentially)  en- 
joys practically  limitless  though  con- 
ditioned freedom.  There  is  (substan- 
tially) no  limit  to  his  thoughts,  and 
the  limits  to  his  acts  are  (potentially) 
the  boundaries  of  the  physical  uni- 
verse. His  body  is  subject  to  the 
laws  of  chemistry,  hygiene,  mechan- 
ics, etc.;  and  he  is  at  liberty  to  ex- 
press his  mental  freedom  physically, 
in  any  manner  or  direction,  subject 
only  to  the  laws  of  the  physical  uni- 
verse  involved   in   his   purpose. 

Alan  is  fundamentally  a  rational  be- 
ing, (free  to  express  irrationality), 
hence  must  express  reason  or  act 
contrary  to  his  essential  being — and 
suffer  the  consequences. 

Alan  is  hot  only  an  individual  en- 
tity, he  is  fundamentally  a  social  be- 
ing; hence  he  must  not  only  express 
rational  individuality,  but  also  ra- 
tional mutuality,  in  order  to  act  in 
accordance  with  his   essential  being. 

Alan,  the  social  being,  contacts  with 
other  social  beings  only  in  the  world 
of    things    and   acts,    hence    must    act, 


72 


TKCHXOCRACY 


man  toward  man,  and  man  toward 
environment,  and  so  arrange  man- 
made  environment  —  society  —  that 
neither  individual  nor  collective  ac- 
tivity contravene  nature's  physical 
laws  or  human  nature — or  suffer  nat- 
ural consequences. 

Upshot. 

The  consequences — "punishment" — 
following  individual  irrationality  are 
sickness,  accident,  failure  to  accom- 
plish, and  all  the  myriad  of  obvious 
(and   obscure)    futilities. 

The  consequences — "punishment" — 
following  social  irrationality  are  sim- 
ilar to  those  of  the  individual  multi- 
plied, together  with  characteristically 
collective  futilities  —  debt,  H.  C.  L. 
financial  slavery,  discontent,  high 
death-rate,  war, — our  "Social  Prob- 
lem". 

Still,  this  more  or  less  valid  and 
definite  "working  understanding"  of 
the  individual  should  be  helpful  to 
clear  up  some  of  the  besetting  diffi- 
culties, by  enabling  us  to  avoid  blind 
paths  leading  nowhere;  by  enabling 
us  to  recognize  social  expedients 
which  are  unadapted  to  the  normal 
functioning  of  human  character,  and 
by  preventing  futile  attempts  to  force 
impossibilities    upon    human    nature. 

Do  and  Dare. 

Courage  is  the  virtue   of  virtues. 

Truly,  naive  man  sorely  needed 
courage  in  his  life-and-death  "contest 
with  nature".  But  courage  unguided 
is  only  sublime  folly,  which  intelli- 
gent purpose  alone  can  transform 
into  effective  rationality. 

To  use  his  spiritual  freedom,  to  be 
free,  man  must  do  and  dare;  and  to 
do  anything  worth  doing,  man  must 
learn  and  respect  the  mechanical  uni- 
verse in  which  the  doing  must  be 
done. 

A  Sign  Post. 

Within  his  own  make-up  man  finds 
such  (practically)  mechanical  facts: 
his  instincts. 

These  facts  of  nature  cannot  be 
altered  by  themselves.  But  they 
(like  other,  external  forces — external 
to  personality)  may  be  and  must  be 
brought     under     the     governance     of 


knowledge  in  order  to  effect  spiritual 
freedom. 

Man's  progress  in  the  Mechanic 
Arts  has  attained  (relative)  liberty  of 
action  with  respect  to  the  seemingly 
more  external  facts  of  nature. 

Thus  it  is  a  sign  post  of  experience 
pointing  the  way. 

Just  as  the  Mechanic  Inventor 
chooses  his  goal  and  uses  not  alone 
his  constructive  imagination  but  also 
his  Knowledge  of  the  available  ma- 
terials and  of  Nature's  Laws;  and  thus 
(and  not  otherwise)  attains  success: 
so,  the  solution  of  our  "Social  Prob- 
lem"— spiritual  and  social  purposive 
freedom — must  and  is  to  be  gained 
only  by  combining  with  like  insight, 
a  like  Knowledge  (of  the  relevant 
Natural  Laws  and  facts),  and  a  like 
courageous  application  of  this  Knowl- 
edge in  action. 

An  End  in   Itself. 

Spiritual  freedom  in  posse,  lacking 
use,  is  only  a  burden — a  crushing  re- 
sponsibility. 

It  must  be  in  esse,  ready  for  action 
— put  into  action. 

But  in  doing  (in  accord  with  his 
spiritual  freedom)  man  stakes  his 
whole  self.  That  is  why  I  call  work 
of  a  man's  own  heart  an  end  in  itself 
— not  a  means  to  an  end. 

It  is  such  kind  of  doing  in  which 
the  World-Force  finds  its  complete 
human  expression. 

"Do  or  die"  is  really  the  human 
quintessence   of   life. 

Do  or  die  is  self-expression  raised  to 
the  nth  degree.  It  is  self-expression 
spiritually  transfigured:  he  only  can 
have  true  life  who  is  ready  to  stake 
his  life   (and  lose  it)   on  his  cause. 

Harness  the  Animal. 

The  main  task  of  man  individually, 
and  a  crux  of  our  collective  task — our 
"Social  Problem" — is  to  harness  the 
animal  in  man. 

The  task,  rightly  conceived,  is  not 
to  kill,  or  maim,  or  nullify  the  animal 
instincts  in  man,  nor  yet  to  "punish" 
(by  social  obloquy,  imprisonment,  or 
the  electric  chair,  the  non-social  or 
anti-social  expressions  of  these  in- 
stincts), but  to  harness  and  utilize 
these  brute  forces  for  man's  higher 
spiritual   purposes. 


TECHNOCRACY 


73 


The  animal  instincts  must  be  "hu- 
manized." 

The  economic  instincts  must  be  so- 
cialized. 

England's  settlement  of  the  Aus- 
tralian penal  colonies  and  their  pres- 
ent-day outcome  are  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  "criminal"  ancestry  is  not 
"had"  ancestry.  It  also  indicates  that 
the  humanization  of  the  animal  in- 
stincts  is   not  an   impossible   task. 

And  the  socialization  of  the  eco- 
nomic instincts  should  be  simple  by 
comparison. 

Team    Work. 

For  the  correct  functioning  of  any 
machine  or,  indeed,  any  organism 
composed  of  many  parts,  co-ordina- 
tion  is   indispensable. 

Co-ordination  is  equally  indispen- 
sable in  the  social  unit,  the  individual, 
and  in  the  social  whole,  the  nation. 

A  mentally  unbalanced  (unco-ordi- 
nated)  man — because  he  acts  irration- 
ally and  is  a  menace — we  call  insane; 
and  we  take  measures  accordingly — to 
the  best  of  our  intelligence. 

Our  economically  unbalanced  (un- 
coordinated) society,  producing  and 
accumulating  fabulous  wealth  in  peace 
times  which  irrationally  saddles  on  its 
masses  a  still  greater  debt,  and  mort- 
gaging its  (more  than)  total  wealth 
to  a  few  citizens  forever  we  do  not 
call  insane;  nor  (though  we  perceive 
the  menace)  do  we  take  measures  ac- 
cordingly— to  the  best  of  our  intelli- 
gence. 

Our  economically  unbalanced  (un- 
co-ordinated)  society  which,  while  en- 
gaged in  destroying  fabulous  wealth 
by  war  (for  national  self-preserva- 
tion), irrationally  produces  million- 
aire individuals  by  the  thousand,  we 
do  not  call  insane;  nor  (though  we 
perceive  the  menace)  do  we  take 
measures  accordingly — to  the  best  of 
our   intelligence. 

A  mentally  unco-ordinated  man  is 
foredoomed  to  failure,  is  always  in 
trouble,  and  is  a  menace  to  himself, 
and  others. 

An  economically  unco-ordinated  so- 
ciety is  foredoomed  to  failure,  is  al- 
ways in  trouble,  and  is  a  menace  to 
itself,    and    others. 


Owners    of    Tin    Lizzies. 

Every  man  who  possesses  a  Tin  Liz- 
zie, or  a  high-priced  Nickel-plated 
Elizabeth,  knows  what  lack  of  me- 
chanical co-ordination  means:  co-or- 
dination between  spark  and  compres- 
sion, co-ordination  between  intake  and 
exhaust  valves,  co-ordination  between 
air  and  "gas" — and  he  becomes  pro- 
foundly interested  when  any  of  these 
co-ordinates  get  gley.  .  .  . 

If  all  our  citizen  owners  of  Tin 
Lizzies  were  a  hundredth  part  as  in- 
telligently interested  in  the  thous- 
andfold more  important  social  disco- 
ordinations  as  they  are  in  those  of  Tin 
Lizzie's  in'ards,  we  should  soon  have 
a  social  machine  as  effective,  as  de- 
pendable, as  smooth-running  as  the 
most  perfect  product  of  the  mechanic 
arts. 

Man's  Free   Spirit. 

You  will  recall  that  there  is  inter- 
action .reciprocity,  between  man  and 
his  environment.  Environment  may 
help  or  hinder  development,  be  friend- 
ly or  otherwise  depending  on  how  we 
act  toward  it.  You  will  recall  also  that 
environment  is  (in  effect)  modifiable 
by  our  relation  to  it.  There  may  be 
modifications  of  response  in  situ,  by 
draining  a  malaria-breeding  swamp;  or 
through  change  of  position,  as  when  a 
Chicagoan  removes  to  San  Francisco 
— or  better  still,  Berkeley — to  escape 
pneumonia-breeding  winters.  Social 
environment,  as  all  will  agree,  is  even 
more  largely  modifiable. 

In  every  case  the  effective  modifier 
is  man's  free  spirit. 

The  Pilgrims. 

It  was  man's  free  spirit  which  led 
the  first  founders  of  our  republic  to 
the  New  World.  And  is  it  not  a 
striking  coincidence  that  among  the 
prime  motives  of  the  Pilgrims  and 
other  early  colonists  was  specifically 
the   quest   of   spiritual  freedom? 

Nor  is  the  significance  diminished 
by  the  incident  that  they  sought  spir- 
itual freedom  in  a  special  and  nar- 
rower   sense:     religious    freedom. 

They  found  better  than  they  sought. 

A   Vast   Free   Land 

From  the  straight-jacket  of  little 
England,    from    a    narrow    land    beset 


74 


TECHNOCRACY 


with  moral  and  mental  fences  and  still 
more  restrictive  conventions,  the  Pil- 
grims came  into  wide  open  spaces, 
practically  boundless  in  extent,  came 
into  a  vast  free   land. 

In  the  evolution  of  the  American 
this  environment — large,  free,  unre- 
stricted— comes  in  for  a  great  part  of 
the  credit.  Even  in  our  own  day  there 
is  left  in  America  "illimitable  space," 
as  compared  with  crowded  Europe. 
And  this  favorable  environment  pow- 
erfully aided  and  aids  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Americanism. 

America. 

There  was  indeed  at  work  a  select- 
ive process:  emigration  is  likely  to 
appeal  only  to  the  more  venturesome, 
and  those  are  likely  to  be  the  more 
strenuous,  the  "fittest." 

But  even  so,  large  credit  goes  to 
the  environment. 

It  was  what  America  had  to  offer 
that  attracted  the  bolder  spirits,  and 
its  obvious  dangers  daunted  the  more 
timid. 

And  that  the  bolder  had  the  imagi- 
nation to  be  so  attracted  was  due  to 
their  possessing  spiritual  freedom  in 
esse,  so  that  to  become  and  be  free 
in  fact  was  their  master  urge,  theii 
effective  purpose,  their  spiritual  ob- 
jective 

Man   and    Environment. 

This  to  us  momentous  example  is 
a  beautiful  and  impressive  illustration 
of  the  interaction  and  reciprocal  rela- 
tion of  man  and  environment,  of  the 
"miracle"  of  spiritual  freedom  in  a 
mechanically  conditioned  universe. 

But  if  the  early  settlers  of  America 
(and  many  or  even  most  of  them  that 
followed  across  the  ocean  in  the  re- 
volving years)  were  led  by  the  spirit 
of  freedom  and  came  into  a  free  land, 
they  did  not  come  free  from  dangerous 
personal  belongings,  "goods"  and 
gods,  and  bugaboos — they  had  much 
better  left  behind  in  musty  old  Eu- 
rope. 

Social   Conventions. 

They    brought    with    them   a   host   of 

lYrmvald,  Berkeley,  California. 
.May     16,     1921. 


barbarous  old  social  conventions  and 
customs;  and  these,  replanted  in  the 
virgin  American  soil,  throve  lustily, 
defacing  and  ravaging' the  lovely  free; 
land  with  ruthless  greed,  and  pollut- 
ing its  free  air  with  the  noisome  odors, 
of  chattel  and  financial   slavery. 

And  if  our  great  and  fair  land  may 
still  claim  some  greatness  and  some 
fairness,  it  is  due  only  to  the  fact  that 
America  was   too  much   for   them. 

In  short,  the  American  failed  to  re- 
fashion his  social  environment  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  changed  physical 
setting. 

The    American. 

Yet  we  of  the  United  States  have 
a  better  chance  of  retrieving  past 
errors — the  refashioning  ("reconstruc- 
tion") of  our  social  structure — than 
have  other  peoples. 

We  are  relatively  free  from  the  re- 
straints of  class,  of  caste,  of  tradition- 
alism, the  dead  weight  of  which  is 
the  finished  product  of  Old  World 
heritage.  Then,  too,  the  American 
has  more  "initiative,"  the  result  of 
pioneering  conditions  and  the  "con- 
quest" of  a  continent. 

The  American  has  impressed  him- 
self on  his  environment  and  recip- 
rocally he  has  received  its  American 
impress. 

Due  to  the  reciprocal  interaction  of 
the  man  and  the  environment  there 
has  resulted  a  greater  fluidity  of  the 
social  setting,  and  to  the  man  more 
resourcefulness,  hence  more  effective 
freedom. 

Thinks  and — Does. 

Man,  then,  conditioned  by  the  me- 
chanical laws  of  the  universe  and  his 
own  animal  instincts,  has  freedom  in 
choosing  his  'relation  and  action  to- 
ward these  seeming  limitations;  and 
out  of  what  he  thinks  expressed  in 
what  he  does  emerges  his  effective  free 
spirit;  emerges  Cunning  Strong,  Skil- 
ful Strong,  Tricksy  Cunning,  Simple 
Strong;  emerges  Newton,  Shakes- 
peare, Socrates,  Christ;  emerges  the 
Man — wondrou>     Human     Personality. 


Technocracy 

Third  Series 

PART    II. 

Old  Irascible  Strong  and  Trixie  Cunning 
Their   Sons    and    Modern    Society 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

NOTE:  Part  II  takes  up  the  instinctive  side  of  man — his  conditioned 
self,  inherited  from  his  animal  ancestors,  that  any  rational  social  structure 
must  rest  on.  But  the  social  environment  is  modifiable  by  man's  will,  so, 
given  the  will,  the  "socialization"  of  the  instincts,  in  a  manner  appropriate 
to  man's  aspirations,  may  be  accomplished  by  a  suitable  reconstruction 
of  the  social  institutions. 


Irascible  and  Trixie. 

In  the  forest  primeval,  Irascible 
Strong,  our  semi-human  first  parent, 
promiscuously  thrashed  and  smashed 
with  his  ragged  tree-branch-club,  joy- 
ously cracking  skulls  in  his  gory  pur- 
suit of  grub  and — life  interest;  and 
Trixie,  his  less  powerful  and  less  fe- 
rocious, but  more  cunning  mate  (in 
her  pursuit  of  life  interest  and — 
grub),  jolted  his  sluggard  wits  by 
her  audaciously  flirtatious  actions; 
swiped  some  of  his  procurements; 
and  in  many  other  feminine  ways 
acted  most  reprehensibly. 

So  it  is   today — merely   modernized. 

Today. 

Alan  must  eat  to  live,  must  breed, 
must  protect  himself  and  his  off- 
spring against  the  vicissitudes  of  life 
and  the  inclemency  of  the  weather, 
today — just  as  in  the  old  days  half  a 
million  years  ago.  And  in  all  the 
the  ages  since,  neither  the  circum- 
stances of  life  nor  the  primal  ne- 
cessities have  changed  in  their  fun- 
damentals. 

Right  of  Might. 

The  fierce  and  fearsome  sons  of 
Irascible  and  Trixie — Cunning  Strong, 
Skilful  Strong,  Simple  Strong,  and 
Tricksy  Cunning — procured  their  grub 
and  life  interest,  each  in  his  own  un- 
tutored way  and  in  accord  with  his 
inherited  make-up — Simple  Strong  by 
labor;  Skilful  Strong  by  skill;  Tricksy 
Cunning  by  stealth;  and  Cunning 
Strong  by  favor  of  the  gods  and — 
right  of  might. 


Everywhere  and  Always. 

It  has  always  been  so  in  the  past — 
East,  West,  North,  South,  in  China, 
in  India,  in  Assyria,  Egypt,  Greece, 
Rome — strength,  skill,  cunning,  con- 
tending and  contributing,  each  after 
its  kind,  to  make  for  human  supre- 
macy. 

So  it   is   today — merely  modernized. 

It  is  only  the  same  old  nobly  simple 
poem  of  human  existence  done  into 
modern  prose  in  the  varied  life  his- 
tories and  (fictitiously)  complicated 
social  activities  of  the  most  up-to- 
date  descendants  of  that  primordial 
semi-human  Cunning  -  Skilful  -  Strong 
family   .   .    . 

"Divine    Providence"    and — Guns. 

Simple  Strong — the  Masses — labors 
simply,  and  propagates  proliferously; 
Skilful  Strong — the  Arfisan — gets  his 
livelihood  and  his  joy  of  life  by  the 
exercise  of  his  constructive  skill; 
Tricksy  Cunning — the  Capitalist — 
gets  his  keenest  delight  (and  other 
more  concrete  evidences  of  success) 
by  the  exercise  and  gratification  of 
his  stealthy  cunning;  and  Cunning 
Strong — the  Ruling  Classes — they  get 
their  glory,  grub  and  fun  out  of  boss- 
ing the  world,  by  favor  of  "Divine 
Providence"  and — right  of  military 
might. 

Man — The  Measure  of  Society. 

In  Cave-man  time  the  world  (as  he 
saw  it)  and  cave-man  society  corre- 
sponded to  cave-man  character. 

So  it  is   today — merely   modernized. 

If  man  is  not  unqualifiedly  the  mea- 


76 


TECHNOCRACY 


sure  of  the  universe,  he  surely  is  the 
measure  of  society.  No  society,  no 
social  complex,  can  have  an  excellence 
superior  to  that  of  the  individuals  who 
compose  it — the  widely  accepted  no- 
tion of  "the'  State"  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  Nor  can  there  be 
real  virtue  or  lasting  vitality  in  any 
society  except  when  and  in  so  far  as 
it  gives  the  amplest  scope  ("freedom 
of  opportunity")    to  its  individuals. 

To  the  society-builder — the  social 
mechanic — the  matter  of  foremost 
concern  must  therefore  be  man;  man 
in  his  simple  essentials — his  intrinsic 
nature,  his  fundamental  needs,  his  un- 
quenchable aspirations.  Only  as 
these  are  understood  and  properly 
taken  account  of,  can  the  work  of  so- 
cial  reconstruction   prosper. 

Conditioned. 

Men's  minds  are  free. 

M<n's  thoughts  in  physical  realiza- 
tion— action — (and  hence  the  success 
of  their  life  activities)  are  conditioned 
by  "Nature."  The  most  economically 
potent  of  these  conditioning  factors 
are   their   instincts. 

.Men's  instincts  have  been  devel- 
oped in  the  process  of  evolution,  by  in- 
heritance from  man's  animal  ances- 
tors. Human  instincts  being  nature's 
own  handiwork  —  evolutionary  pro- 
ducts— are  part  and  parcel  of  nature; 
facts  at  which  we  may  scold  (if  we 
must  spend  time  foolishly),  but  to 
which  we  must  bow.  And  it  is  the 
part  of  intelligence  to  make  of  ad- 
vantage what  we  must  submit  to  of 
necessity. 

Don't  Grouch. 

To  grouch  at  our  sixty-odd  inches 
and  to  wish  men  ten  feet  tall,  and  not 
to  use  our  two  while  wishing  for  three 
arms,  would  be  no  idler  than  not  to 
accept  and  take  advantage  of  man's 
instinctive  equipment. 

We  are  as  we  are;  it's  the  part  of 
common   sense  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

Instincts. 
In  the  human  evolutionary  elabora- 
tion of  the  animal  instincts,  as  we  have 
seen,  three  strands  developed  in  such 
manner  as  to  make  them  of  primary 
economic  importance.  Their  arche- 
types are  Skilful-Strong,  Cunning- 
Strong,     and     Tricksy-Cunning;      the 


embodiments  of  the  instinct  to  make, 
the  instinct  to  control,  the  instinct  to 
take. 

Traits. 

AH  three  stand  out  sharply  by  con- 
trast with  the  economically  undiffer- 
entiated (but  supremely  important) 
mass,  whose  instinctive  urge  I  have 
characterized  as  simply  the  desire  to 
live — Simple-Strong. 

From  this  threefold  differentiation 
of  human  acting-trails — one  might 
call  them  economic  instincts — comes 
a  corresponding  three-fold  articula- 
tion of  the  industrial  community  into 
Production,  Distribution,  and  Direc- 
tion. 

Order  vs.  Chaos. 

An  orderly  purposeful  division  be- 
tween them  (as  against  their  planless 
and  confused  intermingling  in  our  ob- 
jectless social  conglomeration — our  al- 
leged social  organization)  is  impera- 
tively needed.  The  need  of  clean-cut 
and  purposeful  division  rises  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  industrial  process, 
and  without  it  efficient  functioning  is 
impossible. 

Man. 

If  anything  is  unquestionable  in 
matters  sociological,  it  is  that  we  can- 
not deal  with  society  unless  we  can 
deal  with  men;  that  we  cannot  under- 
stand society  unless  we  understand 
Man. 

But,  as  in  the  machine-shop  (deal- 
ing with  inanimate  material),  we  need 
aim  at  no  more  than  an  effective  un- 
derstanding, that  is,  one  effective  for 
the  pertinent  purposes — a  working  un- 
derstanding. 

A   Working   Knowledge. 

A  working  understanding  does  not 
imply  that  there  is  needed  a  "com- 
plete" and  "perfect"  or  even  "scienti- 
fic" or  "philosophic"  understanding  of 
the  whole  man.  Such  is  no  more 
needed  than  is  a  similar  understand- 
ing required  of  electricity  as  prelimi- 
nary to  its  effective  utilization. 

For  that  matter,  of  what  have  we 
knowledge— complete    and   perfect? 

Such  knowledge  has  never  been  at- 
tained  and   apparently  is   unattainable. 

If  there  is  any  one  who  understands 
"electricity,"  or  "energy,"  or  "matter," 


TECHNOCRACY 


77 


or  "motion,"  or  "space,"  or  time,"  he 
should  enlighten  the  physicists,  me- 
chanics, arid  electro-technicians,  all  of 
whom  aver  thai  they  understand  none 
of  these  marvels.  Yet  they  use  them 
in  a  multitude  of  ingenious  ways  and 
with    almost    awe-inspiring    effect. 

So,  in  sociological  matters,  all  we 
need  is  a  like  working  knowledge  of 
how    man    acts. 

Common   Sense. 

Such  knowledge  is  neither  mysteri- 
ous nor  occult,  nor  is  it  the  private 
property  of  privileged  specialists,  nor 
the  oeculiar  province  of  profoundly 
learned  pundits,  but  is  open  and  ob- 
vious to  all  who  will  use  their  eyes 
and  common  sense. 

For  this  paradoxical  compound  of 
instinctive-animal  and  free-spirit — 
Man — is,  socially,  a  Doer.  Not  only 
primarily,  but  exclusively. 

Whatever  does  not  run  into  act,  so- 
cially and  sociologically  may  be  disre- 
garded. What  a  man  thinks,  if  it  go 
not  beyond  thinking,  is  socially  indif- 
ferent. 

Acts   and   Thoughts. 

What  Man  does  is  what  matters. 

A  man's  thoughts  are  his  own;  only 
his  acts  concern  or  affect  his  fellows — 
society. 

Man's  activities  are  his  reactions  to 
environment.  A  specific  act  will  be 
the  resultant  of  two  sets  of  forces: 
one  rising  from  within,  the  other  from 
without — one  from  the  individual,  the 
other  from  his  environment. 

Social   Environment. 

The  society  in  which  a  man  lives 
and  acts  is  every  bit  as  much  part  of 
his  environment  as  climate,  topog- 
raphy, and  so  on.  Whatever  power 
man  has  gained  to  affect  his  non-so- 
cial ("natural")  environment  (by  vir- 
tue chiefly  of  the  labors  of  the  scien- 
tist, the  inventor,  the  mechanic),  is 
far  inferior  to  his  power  to  effect 
changes  in  his  laws  and  customs — -his 
social  environment. 

Obviously,  of  those  activities  that 
are  socially  significant,  the  social  en- 
vironment is  more  important  than  the 
non-social.  Nature  has  made  man  and 
provided  his  natural  environment,  but 
man  makes  his  own  social  restrictions 
and  conventions.     And  there  lies  the 


more  hope  in  recognition  of  man's 
ability  to  modify  his  social  arrange- 
ments— man-made  environment — when 
it  is  recognized  that  he  cannot  (on 
the  points  here  pertinent)  change 
himself. 

1  have  said  that  an  act  i>  a  com- 
pound of  environmental  and  individ- 
ual forces. 

The  individual  i-  essentially  un- 
changeable— human  society  has  always 
been  composed  of  Cunning-Strongs, 
Skilful-Strongs,  Simple-Strongs,  and 
Tricksy-Cunnings. 

Social  environment  has  changed 
kaleidoscopically,  and  can  be  changed 
at    society's   will    or  whim. 

Must  Fit  Human  Nature. 

The  remedy  for  conditions  deemed 
undesirable  lies  not  in  attempting  to 
transform,  regenerate,  or  reform  the 
individual  or  groups  of  individuals  to 
suit  reformers'  notions,  but  in  modi- 
fying social  environment  to  suit  na- 
ture's laws  and  conform  to  human 
nature. 

This  seems   to  me  to  be  axiomatic. 

Tricksy  Cunning. 

As  long  as  society  and  social  con- 
ventions are  so  organized  that 
Tricksy  Cunning  can  gratify  the 
cravings  of  his  nature  only  by  batten- 
ing on  his  fellow-citizens,  he  will  bat- 
ten despite  all  pious  protests  and  "up- 
lift" preachments,  and  will  evolve 
plenty  of  pious  justification  for  his 
battening  to  boot.  Yes,  he  will  sanc- 
timoniously call  High  Heaven  to  wit- 
ness that  he  (like  the  battening  Coal 
Baron  who  said  it)  is  one  of  those 
"Good  and  great  Christian  men  to 
whom  God  in  his  infinite  wisdom  has 
confided  the  property  interests  of  the 
country";  and  "a  wise  God"  (as  an- 
other Baron  Battener  put  it)  "gives 
wealth  to  those  best  able  to  admin- 
ister it." 

Tricksy  Cunning  is  not  to  blame 
for  gratifying  his  acquisitive  propen- 
sity, in  the  only  way  we  leave  open 
to  its  gratification;  but  we  prove  our- 
selves incompetent  or  careless  social 
designers  in  not  arranging  an  avenue 
— "freedom  of  opportunity" — for  this 
instinctive  force  to  function  in  a  di- 
rection beneficial  to  society. 


78 


TECHNOCRACY 


The  Bed  Rock. 

Since  activities  are  reactions  to  sur- 
rounding conditions,  and  since  these 
reactions  are  conditioned  by  specific 
make-up  of  individuals,  is  it  not  ob- 
vious that  this  individual  nature  is 
the  bed-rock  upon  which  we  must 
build    the    social   structure? 

The  controlling  factors  are  spirit- 
ual freedom,  on  one  hand,  and  in- 
stinctive urges  on  the  other. 

These  seemingly  opposing  factors 
must  be  reconciled.  They  require 
adjustment  toward  each  other,  as  the 
whole  man  must  be  adjusted  to  the 
whole  environment — as  the  necessity 
of   a   prosperous    existence. 

The  instinctive  complex  is  a  pro- 
duct of  evolution,  and  therefore  prob- 
ably modifiable  only  by  evolutionary 
process.  Practically  it  is  a  fixed 
datum,   a    persistent   motor    force. 

Explosive   Energy. 

Instincts  are  essentially  appetitive. 
The}"  are  life  energy,  stresses,  vital 
forces  that  ever  strive  to  become  kin- 
etic, to  explode  in  action — in  doing. 
They  exert  an  imperative  inward 
urge,  an  urge  seeking  expression, 
seeking  gratification.  When  this  is 
denied,  they  set  up  inward  strain  and 
distress,  which  strain  and  distress., 
when  experienced  by  sufficient  num- 
bers, is  expressed  outwardly  in  "so- 
cial  unrest." 

Cosmic   Birthright. 

Man's  spiritual  freedom  is  his  cos- 
mic birthright,  which  he  must  vindi- 
cate by  action  before  he  can  have  the 
fuli  enjoyment  of  it,  Here,  as  every- 
where in  our  world,  we  have  exem- 
plified the  order  of  spiritual  freedom 
reconciled  with  inflexible  physical 
laws. 

To  be  really  free,  man's  dominant 
instinctive  urge  must  be  satisfied. 
Contentment  is  merely  the  psychic  in- 
dex of  a  good  adjustment.  And 
good  adjustment  hangs  on  self-ex- 
pression: scope  to  the  dominant  eco- 
nomic instinct.  Else  contentment  is 
impossible. 

False  Doctrine  of  Pleasure. 

This  indicates  what  seems  to  me 
the  error  in  the  seductive  doctrine  of 


pleasure,  that  theory  of  hedonism 
which  interprets  man's  aspiration  and 
action   as  a   striving  for  "happiness." 

Nor  is  the  case  altered  if  some 
other  term  descriptive  of  a  state  of 
mind  be  substituted  for  happiness. 
It  is,  at  best,  putting  a  secondary  ef- 
fect in  the  place  of  a  primary  fact, 
referring  the  effect  of  the  electric 
discharge  to  the  ineffective  rumble 
of    the    thunder. 

Rapture  of   Creation. 

When  man  strives  it  is,  after  all,  in 
obedience  to  an  inner  urge;  and  it  is 
irrelevant  whether  that  urge  be  con- 
sciously understood  or  not.  And 
what  is  socially  pertinent:  this  urge 
is  not  generalized  and  vague,  directed 
at  some  psychic  state,  but  specific 
and  precise.  It  is  an  urge  to  do  a 
desirable  something,  to  accomplish 
an  attractive  purpose.  It  is  an  urge 
promising  pleasurable  satisfaction,  in- 
deed, but  it  is  the  joy  of  "something 
accomplished,  something  done."  Truly 
a  spiritual  satisfaction,  a  human  real- 
ization of  the  cosmic  rapture  of  Cre- 
ation-— self-expression. 

The    Primal    Curse. 

Closely  connected  with  this  is  my 
inability  to  share  the  (alas,  still  craz- 
ily  popular)  view  of  work  as  "the 
primal  curse" — I  would  almost  say 
my  inability  fully  to  understand  how 
that  poisonous  view  could  ever  have 
gained  acceptance.  That  it  has  gain- 
ed acceptance  is  in  itself  perhaps  the 
most  impressive  testimony  to  how 
miserably  we  have  failed  in  our  so- 
cial contrivances.  For  such  utterly 
inhuman  misconception  of  the  true 
nature  of  work  can  have  arisen  only 
from  the  abuse  of  work,  from  mis- 
work — from  forced  work,  work  not 
self-initiated,  work  not  expressive  of 
the  worker,  work  which  indeed  vio- 
lates the  worker's  characterizing  in- 
stinct. 

Person  vs.  Product. 

The  foregoing  offers  another  point 
of  support  for  the  acceptance  of  the 
fundamental  notion  which  I  have  at- 
tempted   to   recommend    to   you,   that: 

The  individual  is  far  more  impor- 
tant, even  economically,  than  his 
product. 


TECHNOCRACY 


7') 


The  chief  benefit  of  the  individual 
doing  anything  which  is  at  all  in  the 
line  of  self-expression  lies,  not  in  the 
outcome,   but   in   the    doing. 

Is   not   this   really   self-evident? 

An  activity  performed  in  response 
to  an  inward  urge  brings  that  con- 
dition of  liberation  to  which  all  or- 
ganic needs  tend  and  in  which,  for 
the  time  being,  they  find  their  end. 
This  liberation  it  is  that  makes  itself 
known  as  primary  satisfaction,  and 
gives  rise  to  the  feeling  of  pleasure. 
The  performance  of  work  after  a 
man's  own  heart  is  an  end  in  itself, 
not  merely  a  means  to  an  end.  What 
lies  beyond,  what  "product"  or  pe- 
cuniary gain  results  from  the  effort, 
is   a  secondary  matter.  * 

False  "Efficiency." 

It  is  the  failure  to  realize  this  vital 
truth  that  makes  modern  so-called 
"efficiency"  humanly  inefficient,  and 
a  dangerous  fallacy. 

This  disposes  of  the  unfounded,  or 
quite  wrongly  founded,  notion  that 
without  the  social  "incentives" — pe- 
cuniary "profit" — now  in  force,  work- 
ing performance  would  be  gravely 
impaired.  That  lacking  "profit,"  men 
would  quit  work,  to  vacuously  twid- 
dle their  fingers  and  thumbs.  Ages 
of  human  experience  are  all  to  the 
contrary.  "The  devil  finds  some  mis- 
chief still  for  idle  hands  to  do,"  is  a 
bit  of  simple  folk-wisdom  expressing 
the  fact  that  inactivity  is  a  human 
impossibility. 

Con-struction    or    De-struction. 

Close  the  avenues  to  con-struction 
and  men  will  turn  to  de-struction. 
The  urge  stress  must  find  relief,  it 
will  find  relief  either  in  service  or  in 
dis-scrvice — in   work  or  in   war. 

Where  "incentive"  is  not  merely  a 
euphemism  for  "necessity,"  its  modi- 
fication will  not  extinguish  the  ac- 
tivity which  it  is  supposed  to  incite. 

It  is  quite  idle  to  suppose  that  the 
abolition  of  social  institutions  facili- 
tating, say,  private  profiteering,  to- 
gether with  the  incentives  thereto, 
would  make  a  man  of  distinguished 
organizing  ability  turn  to  bookkeep- 
ing or  typing  or  nursing  a  rag-doll, 
in  disgust  and  despair.  It  is  much 
more    reasonable     to    expect    that    he 


will  strive  just  as  lustily  to  "organ- 
ize" for  national  benefit,  as  he  does 
now  for  private  profit.  And  where 
the  incentive  is  simply  necessity  (as 
it  is  for  the  great  majority),  is  it 
rational  to  suppose  that  a  willing 
worker  (willing  because  he  has  the 
work  he  wants)  will  work  less,  or 
less  efficiently,  than  an  unwilling 
one? 

Blue  Laws. 

In  planning  an  outcome,  or  de- 
signing a  machine,  only  a  crazy  or  a 
crassly  ignorant  man  would  attempt 
to  change  the  essential  character  of 
his  materials,  or  to  modify  the  laws 
of    matter   and   motion. 

But  this  seemingly  has  been  and 
still  is  the  course  pursued  in  our  so- 
cial endeavors,  as  evidenced  in  some 
of  our  prohibitive  measures,  our  "blue 
law"  foolishness,  many  of  our  puni- 
tive and  repressive  statutes,  and  our 
glorified    "Modern    Art   of    Efficiency." 

Facts  of  Nature. 

The  scientist  and  the  mechanic 
know  that  the  laws  of  nature  are 
invariable  and  the  qualities  of  mate- 
rials are  fixed.  However  convenient, 
at  any  stage,  it  might  be  either  to 
be  able  to  subvert  nature  or  endow 
his  materials  with  qualities  they  do 
not  naturally  possess,  the  mechanic 
knows  he  has  no  such  magic  power. 
Instead,  he  must  arrange,  order,  and 
often  modify  his  plans  in  accord  with 
the   facts   of  nature. 

As  Man  Is. 

So  it  is  and  must  be  with  the  so- 
cial constructor  or  reconstructor  (and 
this  is  usually  overlooked  by  "social 
reformers"):  he  too  must  take  his 
human  material — with  its  animal  in- 
stincts, its  brute-man  heritage,  its 
economic   traits — just  as  it  is. 

Men  are  as  they  are:  some  are 
selfish,  brutal,  cruel,  thoughtless,  ir- 
rational; some  are  benevolent,  kindly, 
loving,  thoughtful,  rational;  some 
men  are  more  or  less  all  these  quali- 
ties; some  men  want  to  make,  some 
merit  want  to  take,  some  men  want 
to  boss;  and  many  men  have  no  par- 
ticular hankering  to  make,  or  to  take, 
or  to  boss,  but  merely  want  to 
rationally   live   their   own   unhampered 


80 


TECHNOCRACY 


lives — to  live  simply,  to  work  sanely, 
and  center  their  interest  in  their 
fai Lilies. 

/  Build  Society  to  Suit. 

It  is  therefore  an  essential  part  of 
the  "Social  Problem"  so  to  arrange 
society  that  all  the  human  instincts, 
.  traits,  and  qualities  have  due 
consideration  and  free  scope  to  serve 
useful  ends  and  perform  their  appro- 
priate functions  in  the  economic  or- 
ganization— the    Nation. 

In  short,  we  must  take  men  as  we 
find  them  and  build  our  social  struc- 
ture to  suit  them  as  they  are,  and 
build  in  unison  with  Nature's  "Law 
and  Order,"  as  this  is  disclosed  in 
our  experience.  And,  in  addition,  we 
must  build  in  accordance  with  our 
highest  ideals  of  social  worth  and  to 
rve  our  loftiest  national  pur- 
poses. 

A  Social  Object-Lesson. 
As  the  mechanic  inventor  strives 
to  organize  mechanisms  to  realize  his 
highest  ideals  of  mechanistic  effi- 
ciency, •  so  must  we  as  social  con- 
structors strive  to  organize  the  social 
structure  to  realize  our  highest  ideals 
of  human   worth. 

should  not  expect  (nor  be  dis- 
couraged if  we  fail)  to  build  a  "per- 
fect" social  machine;  and  we.  should 
expect  to  build  and  rebuild,  modify- 
ing and  improving  as  our  growth  in 
knowledge  and  our  ever-increasing 
social  intelligence  enlarges,  and  puri- 
fies  our   National    Ideals. 

Creative. 

Constructing   tentatively   is    not    ex- 
and    peculiar    to    the    Social 
ilem. 
Quiti    the  contrary. 
[f  we  lake  experience  for  guide,  the 
erse   it  self  is  d 

hed   perfect    work   of  a  now 
resting    Power-,  but   as  a  growing,  de- 
ever    expanding    process    of 
Creatn  e  Self-expression. 

l-'.vi  rything  suggests  thai  motion  is 
lamental  than  re  t-  -that  rest 
(non-motion)  is  somewise  an  illusion 
of  thi  I  ;  or  at  most  a  state  of 
partial  and  temporary  equilibrium: 
that  the  Universe  is  not  static  but 
creative,  dynamic,  progressive. 


And  so  must  we  be  creative,  dy- 
namic, progressive — or  perish. 

Compromises. 

Every  human  endeavor,  the  accom- 
plishment of  every  purpose — the  reali- 
zation of  an  ideal — is  a  series  of  com- 
promises growing  out  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  idea  and  the  char, 
istics  of  the  available  materials, 
through  which  it  is  physically  ex- 
'  ■  if  such  com- 

promises     satisfactorily,    one    general 
idea  or  principle  disclosed  in   the  me- 
c's  experience,  and  which   has  at 
been   very   helpful   to   him,   here 
3  to  possi  icance 

to  the  social  mechanic: 

Motion  is  just  a.-  ive   to   re- 

duction of  pre  o  ad- 

dition of  pressure  behind. 

Carrot  vs.  Club. 

As  in  the  machine  shop,  so  also  in 
social  construction,  the  first  expedient 
has  the  advantage  of  avoiding  the 
compression  of,  and  consequent  gen- 
eration of  heat  in,  t!i  acted 
upon. 

How  obviously  true  is  this  fact,  but 
how  universally  neglected  in  our  deal- 
ings with  hui  es! 

Hope  is  more  stimulating  than 
Hope  incites,  fear  benumb-.     The  car- 
rot in  front  of  the  donkey  is  as  ener- 
gizing  as   the   club   behind — and   costs 
less  effort. 

Vet,  how  general  our  social  recourse 
to  fear,  how  frequent  our  employment 
of    the    club. 

Brutish  Irascible's  witless  method — 
merely   modernized. 

Crime. 

So  long  as  "crime"  is  the  direction 
I  re-  i  -1. nice,  there  will  be  "crim- 
inals." Or,  put  in  terms  of  our  com- 
mercial age,  as  long  as  social  "bad" 
pays,   social   "good"   cannot   thrive. 

Under  present  money  and  owner- 
ship conventions,  legal  possession  is 
accepted  as  equivalent  to  production 
of  the  things  "owned."  Hence  desire 
to  possess  must  increase  at  the  cx- 
pense  of  desire  to  produce — taking  is 
easier  than  making.  Thus  the  para- 
sitic effort  to  take  rather  than  the 
productice  effort  to  make  has  natural- 
ly  become    to   many   the    direction    of 


TECHNOCRACY 


81 


least    r<  sistance.      And    to 

nothing   is    the    highest   ex- 
ion  of  this  motor  idea 
mercial  ideal. 

Messrs.    Maker,    Swiper.    Stealer,    and 
E.    Merger. 

The    huckster    who    si 
corn    to    make    his    brooms    clearly    is 
better    circumstanced    than 
petitor  who  buys  his  broom-con 
slow-going      Mr.    Swiper,    who 
takes    material,   cannot  with, 

luxuriantly   as    his    still 

rival  who  stealthily  ace;1 

all  ready-made  and  m;  i  And 

m  —  M  r.      Maker, 
Swiper,   nor   Mr.   St 

chance  with    Mr. 
gcr,  who  "combines"  and  high-finances 
all — the  "profits." 

"Prohibition." 

m — prohibition 
-end-to. 
It    is    sheer    waste    of  .  enei 
probably  worse. 

It  is  crass  foolishness  to  ti 
people   "pure"   and   "good"    by    statute, 

nperate    and   moral    by    lav 
punishment. 

It  is  the   substitution  of  sub 
— slavery — for   self-control. 

ming    success    in    this    dire 
means   real   failure,   rein  on,   not 

— pr<  igress. 

nld  prohibition  law-  result  in 
complete  "success,"  destroying  the 
beverage  use  of  alcohol  and,  with  it, 
the  acquired  physical  and  spiritual  re- 
sistance thereto:  the  second  or  third 
n  will  lack  this  painfully  ac- 
quired  spiritual   strength   and   pro 

perience,  and  the  result  of  the 
''rediscovery"  of  beverage  alcohol  up- 
on that  generation  will  be  similar  or 
worse  than  alcohol's  effect  upon  simi- 
larly unprotected  aborigines. 
But  .  .! 

We  can,  by  legal  and  other  conven- 
tions, make  morality,  temperance, 
goodness,  desirable;  i.  e.,  the  ((social) 
direction  of  least  resistance,  for  self- 
initiated  effort — encourage  "virtue"  in- 
stead of  punishing  "vice" — the  succu- 
lent and  energizing  carrot  instead  of 
the  skull-cracking  club. 


Brute-instinct    yells — Kill! — Crucify! 

i  in    v.  hi  pers — Utilize. 

Social   Good  and   Social  Bad. 

Human     action     expresses    itself    in 
the    direction    of    least    resistance,    in 
much   the   same   way   as    "natural"    en- 
Results    will    be    desirable    or 
wise,  depending  upon  the  intelli- 
,   or  lack   of  it,   in    selecting   the 
mis    of    human    energy    suited    or 
mi  suited    to    the    object    sought    to    be 
hed. 
When   custom  and  convention  make 
of  social  good  greater  than 
the    rewards   of   social  bad,   the   social 
criminal   will   become  the   social   saint 
— malefactors   of  great   private  wealth 
become     benefactors    of    great    public 
worth.      So    long   as    convention    puts 
:  uium  on   taking  and   social   pun- 
ishment  on    making — the    makers    will 
grow    thin,   the    takers   wax  fat. 

Under  these  conditions,  however, 
our  alleged  industrial  democracy  so- 
cial machine  is  headed  for  old  man 
Revolution's  repair  shop,  or  —  the 
scrap    heap. 

Futile  Questions. 

Discussion  as  to  the  "goodness"  or 
"badness"  of  a  system  or  method 
apart  from  the  purpose  to  be  accom- 
plished (as,  for  example,  Capitalism 
vs.  Socialism)  is  futile,  leading  only 
to   confusion. 

Is  individualism  good? — collectivism 
bad?  Is  egoism  bad? — altruism  good? 
As  well  ask  similar  questions  regard- 
ing one  -  many,  going  -  coming,  rigid- 
ity-flexibility, heat  -  cold;  and  all  the 
thousand-and-one  other  reciprocal 
qualities  and  characteristics.  All  such 
terms  merely  indicate  relation,  not 
self-sufficing  entities.  They  desig- 
nate complementaries,  no  one  of 
which  could  exist  or  be  conceived  in 
the  absence  of  the  other.  Besides 
this,  "good"  and  "bad"  are  also  mean- 
ingless in  this  connection,  as  they 
connote  ethical  relations  in  the  men- 
tal realm  of  thoughts  and  ideas,  not 
space  and  time  measurements  in  the 
physical  world  of  acts  and  things — 
social  act-ivity. 

To  talk  about  "profiteering"  as 
"good"  or  "bad"  is  merely  to  talk 
nonsense.  It  is  an  efficient  method 
of   enriching   the    few   at    the    expense 


82 


TECHNOCRACY 


of  the  many.  Thus — as  a  means  to 
effect  the  purpose  of  Air.  Profiteer — 
it   is   open    to   no   reasonable   criticism. 

Social  "Sin". 

Social  "goodness"  is  accomplish- 
ment of  socially  desired  ends.  "Bad- 
ness" is  failure  in  that  regard.  This 
criterion  applies  equally  in  social 
mechanics  as  it  does  in  the  machine 
shop. 

"Sin"  alike  in  both  of  these  de- 
partments of  human  effort  is  neglect 
to  use  the  befitting  means  or  mate- 
rials. When  a  mechanic  for  selfish 
gain,  from  misdirected  economy,  or 
from  ignorance  employs  a  power- 
shaft  too  light  for  its  "load,  there  is 
no  doubt  as  to  where  blame  should 
lie. 

How  about  a  businessman  or  bank- 
er who,  for  the  same  reasons,  places 
a  heavy  load  of  responsibility  on  hu- 
man shoulders  too  light  for  the  bur- 
den— who  entrusts  millions  to  youth- 
ful  and  underpaid  clerks? 

Objective    of    the    Nation. 

Thus,  in  the  social  organization, 
the  human  parts  must  be  arranged, 
not  alone  with  regard  to  the  imme- 
diate requirements  of  their  work,  or 
the  "efficient"  output  of  products  (as 
is  present  "efficiency"  practice),  but 
primarily  with  reference  to  the  hu- 
man needs  and  the  natural  character- 
istic of  the  worker,  the  democratic 
ideal  of  the  people,  and  the  ultimate 
purpose — Objective   of   the    Nation. 

Built  That  Way. 

The  point  here  to  be  reinforced 
is  how  vitally  important  are  these 
natural  characteristics  of  the  human 
units  of  the  social  structure,  and  how 
profoundly  society  is  affected  by  their 
instinctive    constitution. 

Introspection  will  confirm  what  I 
have  argued  on  the  ground  of  the 
evolutionary   history   of   man. 

Let  any  one  look  within  himself 
and  examine  the  quality  of  his  pref- 
erences, their  motivation,  and  the 
line  of  action  into  which  they  run: 
he  will  most  likely  find  something  in 
the  nature  of  a  categorical  imperative 
— a  must.  Why  do  1  dislike  this, 
why  do  T  like  that?  The  answer 
would   probably   be: 

Because — I    am    built    that    way. 


"Right"  and  "Wrong". 

But  note,  this  inward  compulsion 
is  felt  to  be,  and  is,  something  very 
different  from  coercion  exercised 
from  without,  whether  the  compul- 
sive force  expresses  nature's  activity 
or  the  arbitrary  will  of  others. 

The  inward  compulsion  is  not  felt 
as  a  mere  "must".  The  compulsive 
quality  may,  indeed,  not  be  felt  at 
all;  it  may  remain  unperceived  until 
disclosed    by    inward    search. 

What  is  always  felt,  hoAvever,  is 
that    it — is    "right". 

Coercion,  on  the  contrary,  is  al- 
ways   felt    to    be    "wrong". 

Self-Expression. 

This  inward  compulsion,  then,  car- 
ries with  it  a  sense  of  sanction.  And 
it  has  this  sanction  because  it  is  in- 
itiative— it  is  the  expression  of  an 
instinctive    urge. 

That  is,  it  is   self-expression. 

If  one'  could  venture  to  use  the 
term  "right"  otherwise  than  rela- 
tively, as  an  "absolute",  one  might 
be  tempted  '  to  say:  self-expression 
IS  right. 

The    Japanese    Question. 

How  individual  instinctive  bents  af- 
fect social  action  may  most  readily 
be  perceived  in  cases  where  the  same 
instinctive  reaction  governs  great 
numbers  of  men.  Take,  for  example, 
the  Japanese  question  which  of  late 
has  assumed  such  seriousness  for  the 
people  of  the  United  States  and  par- 
ticularly  for    us    Californians. 

In  the  mass  of  arguments  advanced 
for  and  against  Japan,  one  stands  out 
like  one   of  our  granite  buttes: 

"Race  antipathy,"  say  the  pro- 
Japanese. 

Quite  true,  answer  we;  it  is  race 
antipathy. 

But    what    does    that   mean? 

Essentially  it  signifies  simply  a  race 
preservation  instinct:  an  instinctive 
objection  by  men  of  the  white  race 
for    hybridization    with    an    alien    race. 

They  want  to  remain  white. 

Vox   Populi! 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  this  desire 
may  be  injudicious. 

Let  it  be  granted  that,  under  a  yet 
undiscovered    canon    of   super-aesthet- 


TI-XHNOCRACY 


83 


ics,  our  complexions  would  be  im- 
proved by  being  jaundiced,  tbat  blue 
eyes  would  be  bluer  gazing  from 
oblique  lids,  tbat  a  shrinkage  of  our 
Stature  would  bring  us  closer  to 
earth. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  the  eugenics- 
to-be  would  demonstrate  a  great 
mental  improvement  of  the  American 
people  resulting  from  their  ceasing 
to  be  Caucasic  and  becoming  yellow- 
white    mongrels. 

All  of  that  would  avail  nothing — 
avails   nothing. 

The  policy  laid  down  for  our  deal- 
ing with  Japan  is  ultimately  dictated 
by — instinct;  or,  more  accurately  ex- 
pressed, by  the  frank  and  wise  recog- 
nition of  an  instinct. 

"We   just   don't   want   to." 

Vox  populi,  vox  dei. 

Fits  and  Mis-fits. 

Economic  institutions  and  conven- 
tions (laws  and  customs)  being  man- 
made,  may  be  rational  or  otherwise, 
may  be  self-initiated  or  imposed,  may 
be  native  or  adopted,  may  fit  or  mis- 
fit the  natural  characteristics  of  the 
individuals  composing  a  social  aggre- 
gation, may  rest  on  autocratic  or 
democratic  notions,  and  may  express 
debasing  or  ennobling  ideals. 

Creative    Consciousness. 

But  every  idea  or  ideal,  whether  its 
rays  point  up  or  down,  has  its  in- 
itiating flame  in  an  individual  creative 
consciousness. 

And,  it  is  ideals — realized — that 
make  the  social  world  move;  valid 
ideals  for  progress,  false  ideals  for 
retrogression  or  profitless  milling 
around  in  a  vicious  circle. 

So  it  is  almost  a  truism  to  say 
that: 

All  social  and  economic  ideals  are 
futile  and  dangerous  that  violate  na- 
ture or  invade  the  sanctuary  and 
sanctity  of  the  individual. 


Man    Is    a    Compound. 

Before  closing,  and  at  the  risk  of 
repetition,  I  want  to  hammer  home 
this  and  one  or  two  other  ideas 
which  seem  to  me  to  be  of  controlling 
significance. 

The  individual  man  is  a  compound 
of  creative  spirit  and  nature-evolved 
instinct: 

The   first   is   elemental — free. 

The  second  is  a  product — governed 
by   physical   laws. 

All  human  beings  are  alike  in  free- 
dom of  spirit — to  the  extent  that  they 
realize  their  freedom.  But  they  dif- 
fer without  limit  in  their  individuality, 
that  is,  in  their  proportional  admix- 
tures of  inherited  instinctive  traits, 
urge-force,   and   general  make-up. 

Hence  nations  differ  in  their  effec- 
tive capability  to  realize  their  social 
ideals — to  utilize  their  nature-provided 
opportunity  for  national  self-realiza- 
tion, through  rationally  appropriate 
economic    institutions. 

The  American  Nation. 

While  the  spirit  of  man  is  free  to 
choose  well  or  ill,  it  is  economic  in- 
stincts which  determine  economic 
possibilities.  And  society  is  no  more 
than  the  aggregate  of  the  individuals 
that  compose  it.  The  American  Na- 
tion is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a 
hundred-and-odd  million  (potentially 
free  but  self-bound)  American  Sim- 
ple-Strongs, Skilful-Strongs,  Cunning- 
Strongs  and  Tricksy-Cunnings — and 
our  national  character  is  the  sum 
total  of  our  inherent  and  our  in- 
herited   characteristics. 

Our    Unprecedented    Responsibility. 

We  occupy  a  wonderful  continent 
and  we  have  an  unparalleled  oppor- 
tunity: thus  we  face  an  unprecedented 
responsibility  to  prove  our  worthiness 
of  this  great  trust — to  prove  that  our 
spiritual  worth  is  at  least  commen- 
surate   with    our    physical    wealth. 


Fernwald,    Berkeley,    California. 
May  25,  1921. 


Technocracy 

Third  Series 

PART   III. 

Parasitism    and   Personality: 

Conflicting  Drifts  in  the  Evolution  of  Society. 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

NOTE:  Part  III  exhibits  the  twofold  nature  of  man  in  its  interaction 
in  our  present  "society,"  as  yet  unorganized  for  the  mutual  adjustment  of  ani- 
mal instinct  and  social  reason.  It  is  shown  how  at  present  the  evolutionary 
urge  to  self-support  is  opposed  by  the  evolutionary  counterdrift,  parasitism: 
how  this  drift  (facilitated  by  the  belief  in  magic)  supports  the  existing 
system  of  finance,  itself  the  quintessence  of  parasitism:  how  this  must  lead 
ultimately  to  ruin,  of  parasite  as  well  as  host. 


Old  Order  and  New  Order. 

cious,    blood- 

ty,   two-fisted   killer,   with    Trixie, 

cunning-      two-handed 

male:    her  reached  the  pinnacle 

of  ai  '  lent,   the  limit,   the 

end-r 

i  — the    climax, 
resull  there  i  ntered  an 
ling"     transforming 
the   climax   into   a    I 

not   only  a  new    direc- 
tion, but  a  order  of  dev<  lo] 

The    old    order,     still    existing    and 

functioning   in    the  animal  world,   was 

ii  ted    to    producing    new      animal 

species,   thus  is   characterized  by  limi- 

ms. 

The  new  order,  of  which  Alan  is  the 

m,    is    characterized,    as 

.  by   fr<  edom. 

Self-support  vs.  Parasitism. 

For    survival    in    the    animal    world 
1  I   :  .  ■  directions 

ir1  have  been  available   and  have, 
pectn    I    .    I  folli       :d    by    ani- 

ns   as    their   direction   of 
The    two   directions 
i  oughly  b(    expi  essed    i    : 
the   way   of   productive  self-sup- 
port. 

By  the  way  of  deductive  parasitism. 
These   path-takers  are  broadly  rep- 
nted    by    prey    and    predator,    ivy 
..ii'!   oak,  by  herbivora  and   carnivora, 
("Bulls    and     Bears"?),    by    host    and 
i;e — big  bugs  have  little  bugs  up- 
on  their  backs  to  bite  'em,  little  bugs 


ill 
nitum. 

The    di\ 
survival  to    the    human    on- 

looki  '     and 

"downward"— i 

tion.     And   it    i:     to   be   observed   that 
this  "upward"  and   "downward" 
oi  survival  effort  passed  over  with  our 
animal     nature     into     human     de\ 
ment,  and  i  -  ntly  into  our  - 

expedient  s  and  com  entions. 

The    upward    or     self-supporl 

j    naturally  expressed  itself  early, 

in    crude    agriculture    and    rude    indus- 

.    gradually    being    developed    and 

cJ    into    modern    arts,    crafts    and 

s  cien 

'i'he  downward  or  parasitic  tendency 
naturally    i  ed  in  its   crud- 

esl  (cannibalistic)  form  in  the  earlier 
and  more  animal  stages,  gradually 
(i.\  eloped  and  "refined"  from  its 
raw  crudness,  in  keeping  with  the 
"higher"  development  of  humanity,  in- 
to exploitation — slavery  direct  and  in- 
direct; into  cunning  thievery — legal- 
ized and  otherwise;  into  cunning 
cheats  in  all  their  variety — unearned 
"pi  i  ilit"  chasers;  into  cunning  we; 
al>  ;orbers — "hoarders,"  "profiteers," 
etc.,  and  all  kinds  of  wealth-wasters — 
idle  poor,  idle  rich,  hobo  and  aristo- 
crat. 

The  generalized  present-day  social 
expression  of  the  two  trends  1  have 
indicated  by  dividing  society  into 
"Maker-,"  and  "Takers." 


TECHNOCRACY 


85 


"Preference." 

As  the  "New  Order"  of  develop: 
itiiMit  progressed  (and  pri 
man  has  gradually  acquired  a  distinct 
and  conscious  preference  for  the  "up- 
ward" direction  of  developmenl 
a  repugnance  From  even  the  idea  of 
itism— we  hate  body  lice,  and 
"varmints"  of  all  kinds. 

thinking — social 
conventions — has  not  caught  up  with 
his    individual    intelligence.      We    have 

ed   habits  of  bodily  cleanlh 
we  are  as  y<  (   far  from  a  similar  pref- 
ial   soap   and   cathartics 
— externa]    and    internal   social    purity. 
Hence  par;  mun- 

ity  do  not  produce  the  quick  and  spon- 
>us  loathing  which   parasites  on  or 
in  the  person   (bed-bugs,  body-lice  or 
the  individual. 
Witness:      "One     man's     misfortune 
r's   opportunity" — a  commer- 
cial aphorism,  which  is  a  stupid  social 
fallacy,    but    a    valid    parasitic    a- 
also:  "profiteer,"  "interest,"  "unearned 
increment,"    "four    hundred,"    etc.;    all. 
of    which    are      merely      "respectable" 
euphemisms    for    social    matters      and 
things    that,    couched    in    more    direct 
terms,  would  produce   feelings   similar 
to    those    aroused    by    "louse,"    "tick," 
and  "tape-worm." 

A  Basic  Proposition. 

Man's  advent,  then  (explain  it  how 
you  will)  introduced  on  earth  a  being 
differing  in  kind  from  all  that  preceded 
him,  a  true  "combination"  of  matter 
and  spirit,  of  animal  and  spiritual,  of 
mechanism    and — personality. 

In  man  was  "combined"  the  preda- 
tory animal  with  its  restricting  in- 
stincts, and  spirit  with  its  unrestricted 
creativeness. 

If  this  proposition  is  not  accepted 
(as  earlier  I  said  about  a  similar  one) 
there  can  be  no  further  discussion;  in- 
deed, there  can  be  no  "Social  Prob- 
lem" to  discuss. 

But  this  proposition  once  truly  re- 
alized, and  its  valid  implications 
rationally  applied,  the  Gordian 
knot  of  social  difficulties  calls  for  no 
cutting,  for  it  loosens  up  and  be- 
comes amenable  to  comparatively 
easy  rational  manipulation. 


Human    Elements. 

As  the  complication  of  machinery 
is  resolvable  into  two  simply  use- 
able (though  incomprehensible)  me- 
chanical elements — the  wedge  and, 
tin-  lever— so  the  complication  of 
society  and  social  activity  is  resolv- 
able into,  flows  out  of,  and  rests 
upon  two  simply  usable  (though  in- 
comprehensible) human  elements — in- 
stinct  and    personality. 

These  arc  the  fundamentals  of 
Man.  individually  and  collectively; 
and  society's  function  is  to  employ 
one    to    liberate    the    other. 

Junk    Piles. 

As  in  practical  mechanics  failure 
to  get  a  "working  understanding" 
of  the  simple  mechanical  elements — 
the  wedge  and  lever — brings  mech- 
anistic confusion,  "perpetual  motion" 
foolishness,  vast  wastage  of  human 
energy,  wealth,  and  material;  brings 
difficulties  (real  and  imaginary)  ana 
fills  the  Patent  Office  and  junk-piles 
with  records  of  myriad  mechanical 
futilities:  so  with  the  workaday  af- 
fairs of  society,  failure  to  get  a 
"working  understanding"  of  the  sim- 
ple human  elements  —  instinct  and 
personality — brings  like  results,  so- 
cial confusion,  credit-perpetual-motion 
foolishness,  \ast  wastage  of  human 
energy,  wealth  and  material;  brings 
difficulties  (real  and  imaginary),  debt, 
discontent,  H  C.  L.,  the  myriad  futili- 
ties of  finance  and  the  host  of  other 
undesirable  items  which  go  to  make 
our  mountainous  social-scrap-pile  and 
our    ominous    "Social    Problem''. 

Tangibles  and  Intangibles. 

As  the  lever,  in  its  arc  movement 
raising  a  load,  combines  the  physical 
iron  bar  with  intangible  time,  space, 
and  motion  and  makes  available  (liber- 
ates) universal  energy  for  human 
use:  so  the  physical  animal  combined 
with  intangible  spirit  liberates  Uni- 
versal Creativeness  in  its  earthly  ex- 
pression— Human    Personality. 

Liberation. 

To  carry  the  analogy  still  further: 
A  ragged  tree-branch  is  a  rough-and- 
ready  lever  of  limited  effectiveness, 
while  a  steel-toed,  scientifically- 
shaped     iron     crow-bar     is     an     enor- 


TECHNOCRACY 


mously  powerful  and  highly  efficient 
instrumentality.  So,  in  like  manner, 
the  greater  the  perfection  of  the 
human  body,  in  skeleton,  muscle, 
brain  ,and  sense  organs,  the  more 
efficient  an  instrumentality  it  be- 
comes for  the  creative  liberation  ot 
the    human     spirit — self-expression. 

True  Efficiency. 

Read  Huxley's  idea  of  a  worth- 
while man:  ....  "his  body  is 
the  ready  servant  of  his  will,  and 
does  with  care  and  pleasure  all  the 
work  that  as  a  mechanism  it  is  capa- 
ble of;  his  intellect  is  a  clear,  cold 
logic  engine,  with  all  its  parts  of 
equal  strength,  and  in  smooth  work- 
ing order,  ready  like  a  steam  engine 
to  be  turned  to  any  kind  of  work, 
and  spin  the  gossamers  as  well  as 
forge  the  anchors  of  the  mind;  his 
mind  is  stored  with  knowledge  of 
the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of 
Nature  and  of  the  laws  of  her  opera- 
tions; he  is  no  stunted  ascetic,  he  is 
full  of  life  and  fire,  but  his  passions 
are  trained  to  come  to  heel  by  a 
.vigorous  will,  the  servant  of  a  ten- 
der conscience;  he  has  learned  to 
love  all  beauty,  whether  of  Nature 
or  of  Art,  to  hate  all  vileness,  and 
to    respect   others    as   himself." 

"Society." 

Lacking  a  word  to  express,  gener- 
ally, the  total  interacting  mass  of  men, 
women,  and  children  constituting  a 
political  aggregation,  that  is  to  say, 
the  entire  communal  complex  in  its 
material  aspect,  including  its  mainten- 
ance (making  and  using  in  all  their 
multifariousness — food,  clothing,  hous- 
ing, hygiene,  reproduction,  etc.),  I 
have  throughout  these  essays  em- 
ploy ed  the  terms  "society,"  and  "social 
functioning"  as  implying  all  the  peo- 
ple and  their  total  community  doings 
which  directly  affect,  or  arc  directly 
aff(  'led  by,  the  economic  processes  of 
production,  distribution  and  direction; 
i.  e.  doers,  doing,  and  dune — nation- 
wide industry — -the  entirety  of  social 
ACTivity — physical    society. 

Purpose  of  Society. 

A  sane  mind  in  a  healthy  body, 
sums  up  in  a  few  words  an  ideal  of 
human    effectiveness,    whether    consid- 


ered   in    the    individual   or    in    the    col- 
lective   aspect. 

To  make  social  conditions  favor- 
able to  this  ideal  is  clearly  the  main 
(proximate)  purpose  of  society.  And 
we  have  seen  that  personality  is  in- 
itiative— creative — self-expression  is  or 
its  essence.  So  it  follows  that  the 
function  of  society  is  twofold,  it  has 
a  direct  and  an  indirect  purpose;  the 
direct  is  the  care  of  the  body,  the 
indirect  is  to  foster  freedom  of 
personality — "freedom  of  opportunity'' 
for   untrammeled  self-expression. 

Direct  and  Indirect. 

The  indirect  object  (self-expres- 
sion), though  paramount,  rests  on 
first  attaining  the  direct  object — 
food,  clothing,  etc.;  for  man's  spirit 
resides   in   a   physical   body. 

The  direct  object  is  thus  seen  to 
be  vital,  for  to  fail  in  it  is  to  fail 
completely. 

The  direct  object  thus  becomes  the 
— social    object. 

And  as,  in  the  family,  intelligent 
diousehold  economics  is  vital  not 
alone  to  the  physical  but  the  moral 
well-being  of  its  members,  so  sane 
national  economics  is  of  first  impor- 
tance to  the  like  well-being  of  the 
citizens. 

Society  "Economic". 

So  the  advisability  of  treating  so- 
ciety and  our  social  problem  as 
"economic"  is  clear  and  its  advan- 
tages apparent. 

By  confining  our  (social)  attention 
to  matters  which  can  be  dissected, 
analyzed,  and  synthetized;  weighed, 
measured,  and  catalogued,  we  are 
dealing  with  things  and  acts  which 
can  be  physically  dealt  with  ana 
determined. 

Though  motives  are  spiritually 
paramount,  as  society  is  a  physical 
organization,  dealing  with  physical 
things,  physical  acts,  and  physical 
problems,  we  may  disregard  those 
vague  intangibles  and  confusing  spir- 
itualities, for  they  do  not  help  us  in 
physical  problems  and  only  hinder 
physical    work. 

Not  Spiritual. 

In  the  kitchen,  or  in  the  machine 
shop,  for  example,  it  would  only   tend 


TECHNOCRACY 


n? 


to  confusion  and  inefficiency  to  lug  in 
"God,"  religion,  and  spiritual  concerns, 
which  there  would  be  quite  imperti- 
nent.    In  the  food-shop,  machine-shop, 

or  work-shop,  my  "God,"  my  religion, 
my  spiritual  problems  do  not  concern 
my  fellow-cooks  or  my  fellow-mechan- 
ics or  my  fellow-workers,  no  matter 
how  ingeniously  imaginative  the}-  may 
be  or  how   spiritually  expert. 

So  in  society — the  general  work- 
shop— my  "God,"  my  religion,  my 
spiritual  problems  do  not  concern 
other  workers,  my  fellow-citizens,  no 
matter  how  ingeniously  imaginative 
they  may  be  or  how  spiritually  ex- 
pert. 

As  family  life  and  family  purposes 
(though  dependent  upon)  are  exterior 
to  and  apart  from  kitchen  functioning, 
so  it  is  on  a  larger  scale  with  society. 

"Personal"  Concerns. 

My  spiritual  concerns  are  my  "per- 
sonal" concerns,  to  interfere  in  which 
no  fellow  citizen  nor  any  other  human 
being  has  the  faintest  shadow  of  a 
right — all  the  "Lord's  anointed,"  all 
the  busy-body  religionists,  all  the 
"God-appointed"  soul  experts  in  the 
world  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing. 

In  the  "separation  of  Church  and 
State"  humanity  for  the  first  time  ef- 
fectively recognized  the  truth  of  this 
transcendently  important  idea. 

Responsibility. 

Food,  clothing,  housing,  etc.,  mak- 
ing and  taking,  are  all  physical  mat- 
ters to  be  dealt  with  by  physical 
means.  To  make  more  or  less,  to 
take  more  or  less,  involve  no  moral 
or  ethical  problems,  only  questions  of 
physical  expediency — precisely  as  the 
expedient  size  of  a  steam  engine  or 
the  expedient  strength  of  structural 
iron,  the  expedient  proportions  of 
chemicals,  or  amounts  of  food. 

If  I  take  from  a  man  his  food,  or 
his  clothing,  or  his  housing:  hunger 
will  gnaw,  the  blizzard  will  chill,  the 
storm  will  destroy,  just  the  same, 
whither  I  take  for  the  "glory  of  God," 
or  for  the  gratification  of  my  "evil 
passions,"  or  in  response  to  the  urge 
of  my  "instinct  to  take."  The  out- 
come in  each  case  is  the  effect  of  my 
act,  and  I  alone,  (not  "God."  nor  "pas- 


sion," nor  "instinct")  should,  very 
properly,  In-  held  responsible  and  ac- 
countable to  the  association  of  my 
fellows,  which  my  act  tends  to  disrupt 
— "society." 

"Me"    and    My    "God." 

As  to  the  motive  behind  the  doing 
or  not  doing,  behind  the  making  or 
taking,  behind  the  more  or  les^:  that 
is  purely  a  personal  matter  between 
"me"  and   my  "God." 

If  I  can  justify  my  motive  to  "Him," 
so  much  the  belter  for  me.  To  my 
fellow-men  I  am  responsible  for,  and 
only  responsible  for,  my  acts  and  their 
consequences. 

Insatiable   Curiosity. 

Our  "working  understanding"  of 
man  would  be  ineffective,  lacking  con- 
sideration of  man's  unsatiable  curios- 
ity-— an  insistent  urge  which,  from  the 
earliest  and  faintest  dawn  of  self-con- 
scious intelligence,  man  has  striven  to 
satisfy. 

In  lowliest  form  curiosity  is  prob- 
ably a  fear  reflex;  more  developed  it 
is  desire  for  scientific  "truth,"  and  ul- 
timately it  expresses  human  craving 
to  know  supreme  "Go(o)d." 

Following  persistently  and  immedi- 
ately on  the  heels  of  seeing  and  sens- 
ing, that  fire  scorches,  blizzards  chill, 
rocks  crush,  torrents  whelm,  and 
man's  life-course  is  beset  with  haps 
and  traps  and  myriad  pitfalls,  all  seem- 
ingly bent  upon  his  destruction;  come 
the  insistent  questions: — 

How!  .  .  .   How  did  it  happen!  .  .  .  ? 

Why!.   .  .  Why  did  it  happen!.   .  .  ? 

Old   Fearsome   Ferocity. 

Seeing  that  he — himself — could  im- 
itate and  initiate  similar  haps,  traps 
and  pitfalls  for  others,  primitive  man 
naturally  assumed  (with  a  high  degree 
of  reasonable  probability)  "that  the 
natural  haps  were  the  outcomes  of 
fearsomely  ferocious  invisible  beings 
with  purposes  and  passions  like  his 
own — only  more  so;  beings  who,  like 
himself,  had  to  be  propitiated,  into 
friendly  mood  and  kindly  act. 

So — naturally — arose  "magic"  and 
magic  causation  at  the  hands  of  the 
human  friends  and  deputies  of  invis- 
ible Old  Fearsome  Ferocity  himself, 
and — of  his  sisters  and  his  cousins  and 
his  aunts! 


TECHNOCRACY 


Magic  vs.   Science. 

Down  through  all  the  ages,  and 
.  .uid  ages;  down  even  unto  the 
present  day,  hour  and  minute — out- 
side the  laboratory  of  the  Scientist 
and  the  workshop  of  the  Mechanic — 
no  oilier  (than  the  "act  of  God" — mir- 
aculous) explanation  of  unusual  haps, 
happen-chances  or  disasters,  has  ever 
been  forthcoming. 

And,  as  I  have  shown  in  earlier  es- 
says of  these  Technocracy  series,  in- 
stinctive animal  greed  (which  is  only 
another  way  of  expressing  primordial 
parasitism)  and  primitive  "magic"  are 
still    the    controlling   exploitation    fac- 


tors   in      "Modern    Economics,    Com- 
merce  and   Finance." 

Magic,  Everywhere  and  Always. 

Historically  magic  is  known  to  have 
existed  everywhere  and  at  all  times. 
Rut  we  of  today  are  incredulous  or 
affronted  when  told  that,  in  most  de- 
partments of  life,  our  way  of  "think- 
ing" is  on  a  level  with  those  who  fee 
augures  and  haruspices.  Classical  ex- 
amples arc  too  well  known  to  pile  up 
instances  here.  But  magic  heliefs  and 
practices  among  peoples  (not  much  if 
any  below  ourselves  in  regard  to  in- 
trinsic intelligence)  in  our  own  day 
are  not  so  well  known. 


A  Magic  Parallel  to   "Finance." 

.  The  following  instance  of  present-day  magic  economics  is  peculiarly 
pertinent  because  it  significantly  shows  a  successfully  working  parallel  to 
our   "Finance." 

I  quote  from  B.  Malinowski's  "The  Primitive  Economics  of  the  Tro- 
briant  Islanders,"  Economic  Journal  (the  official  organ  of  the  Royal 
Economic    Society),    March,    1921. 

The  essential  identity  of  the  Trobriand  economics  and  ours  (in  parallel 
column)  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  very  slight  change  in  phraseology 
needed  to  make  one  fit  the  other.  Run  your  eye  from  column  to  column 
and  note  for  yourself. 

Trobrianders  and  Manhattanese. 


PRIMITIVE   ECONOMICS 

OF 

THE    TROBRIAND     ISLANDERS. 

The  garden  magician  (towosi)  calls 
himself  the  "master  of  the  garden" 
and  is  considered  as  such,  in  virtue 
of    his    magical    and    other    functions. 

The  Towosi,  the  hereditary  magi- 
cian of  each  village  community,  has  to 
a  great  extent  control  over  the  ini- 
tiative .  .   . 

The  proceedings  of  gardening  are 
opened  by  a  conference,  summoned  by 
the  chief  and  held  in  front  of  the 
magician's  house,  at  which  all  arrange- 
ments and  the  allotment  of  the  garden 
plots  are  decided  upon.  Immediately 
after  that,  the  members  of  the  village 
community  bring  a  gift  of  selected 
food  to  the  garden  magician,  who  at 
night  sacrificially  offers  a  portion  of 
il  to  the  ancestral  spirits,  with  an  in- 
vocation, and  at  the  same  time  utters 
a    lengthy    spell    over     some     special 


SOPHISTICATED        ECONOMICS 

OF 
THE   MANHATTAN   ISLANDERS. 

The  financial  magician  (morgan- 
feller)  calls  himself  the  "master  of  the 
finances"  ai  d  is  considered  as  such,  in 
virtue  of  his  complex  magical  and 
other   functions.  .   .  . 

The  Morganfeller,  the  legalized 
magician  of  each  industrial  commun- 
ity, has  to  a  great  extent  control  over 
the  initiative  .  .  . 

The  proceedings  of  a  prospective 
enterprise  are  opened  by  a  conference, 
summoned  by  the  company  president 
and  held  in  the  magician's  hanking 
lw  use,  at  which  all  arrangements  and 
allotment  of  stocks,  bonds,  and  mort- 
gages are  decided  upon.  Immediately 
after  that,  the  members  of  the  indus- 
trial community  bring  deposits  of 
funds  to  the  banker  magician,  who  at 
night  sacrificially  offers  a  portion  of 
it  to  the  spirits  of  posterity,  with  an 
invocation     to    "manufacture     credit," 


TECHNOCRACY 


89 


[eaves.  Next  morning,  the  magician 
repairs  to  the  garden,  accompanied 
by  the  men  of  the  village,  each  of 
whom  carries  an  axe  with  the  charmed 

leaves  wrapped  around  its  blade. 
While  the  villagers  stand  around,  the 
Towosi  (magician)  strikes  the  ground 
with  a  ceremonial  staff,  uttering  a 
formula.  This  he  does  on  each  garden 
plot   successively  .  .  . 

In  a  series  of  rites,  lasting  as  a 
rule  for  about  three  days,  he  inaugu- 
rates the  work  of  clearing  the  garden 
plot  .  .  . 

The  planting  of  •  yams  is  inaugu- 
rated by  a  very  elaborate  ceremony, 
also  extending  over  a  few  days,  during 
which  no  further  garden  work  is  done 
at  all.  A  magical  rite  of  its  own  in- 
augurates each  further  stage,  the  erec- 
tion of  supports  for  the  yam  vines;  the 
weeding  of  the  gardens;  cleaning  the 
yam  roots  and  tubers;  the  premilinary 
harvest;  and  finally  the  main  harvest 
of   yams. 

When  the  plants  begin  to  grow,  a 
series  of  magical  rites,  parallel  with 
the  inaugural  ones,  is  performed,  in 
which  the  magician  is  supposed  to 
give  an  impulse  to  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  the  plant  at  each  of  its 
successive  stages.  Thus  one  rite  is 
performed  to  make  the  seed  tuber 
sprout;  another  drives  up  the  sprout- 
ing shoot;  another  lifts  it  out  ot  the 
ground;  yet  another  makes  it  twine 
around  the  support;  then  with  yet 
other  rites,  the  leaves  are  made  to  bud, 
to  open,  to  expand. 

The  natives  believe  deeply  that 
through  this  magic  the  Towosi  con- 
trols the  forces  of  Nature,  and  they 
also  believe  that  he  ought  to  control 
the  work  of  man.  To  start  a  new 
stage  of  gardening  without  a  magical 
inauguration   is   for   then,  unthinkable. 

Their  implicit  belief  in  magic  also 
supplies  them  with  a  leader,  whose 
initiative  and  command  they  are  ready 
to  accept.  .  .  . 

The  authority  cf  the  chief,  the  be- 
lief in  magic,  and  the  prestige  of  the 
magician  arc  the  social  and  psycho- 
logical forces  which  regulate  and  or- 
ganize   production. 


and  at  the  same  time  utters  a  lengthy 
spell  over  special  leaves  of  account 
books.  Next  morning  the  financier 
repairs  to  the  stock-market,  accom- 
panied by  members,  each  one  of  whom 
carries  stock  (leaves)  wrapped  up  in 
a  wad.  While  the  community  stand 
around,  the  Morganfeller  (magician) 
strikes  the  gong  with  a  ceremonial 
staff,  uttering  a  formula.  This  he  does 
for    each    enterprise    successively  .  .  . 

In  a  series  of  rites,  lasting  as  a 
rule  for  about  three  days,  he  inaugu- 
rates the  work  of  capitalizing  the  en- 
terprise  .   .  . 

The  incorporation  is  inaugurated  by 
a  very  elaborate  ceremony,  also  ex- 
tending over  a  few  days,  during  which 
no  further  real  work  is  done  at  all. 
A  magical  financial  rite  of  its  own 
inaugurates  each  further  stage,  the 
erection  of  machines  for  the  plant; 
the  purchase  of  material;  running  of 
the  enterprise;  the  preliminary  profit; 
and  finally  the  main  harvest  of 
"melons." 

\\  hen  the  plants  begin  to  grow,  a 
series  of  magical  financial  rites,  par- 
allel with  the  inaugural  ones,  is  per- 
formed, in  which  the  financial  magi- 
cian is  supposed  to  give  an  impulse 
to  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
plants  at  each  successive  stage.  Thus 
one  rite  is  performed  to  make  the  in- 
vestment sprout;  another  drives  up 
the  price  of  the  product;  another  lifts 
it  still  higher;  yet  another  makes  the 
stock  reach  par;  then  with  yet  other 
rites  to  make  the  ttock  bear  big  divi- 
dends; to  bear  still  bigger  ones;  to  ex- 
pand into  subsidiary  corporations. 

The  people  believe  deeply  that 
through  his  magic  the  Morganfeller 
controls  the  foices  of  Nature,  and 
they  also  beiieve  that  he  ought  to  con- 
trol the  work  of  man.  To  start  a  new 
stage  of  any  enterprise  without  a 
money-magic  inauguration  is  for  them 
unthinkable. 

Their  implicit  belief  in  money  magic 
also  supplies  them  with  a  leader, 
whose  initiative  and  command  they 
are  ready  to  accept.  .  . 

The  authority  of  the  Law,  the  belief 
in  magic,  and  the  prestige  of  the 
money-magician  are  the  social  and 
phychological  forces  which  regulate 
and   organize   production. 


90 


TECHNOCRACY 


We  would  sec  their  economic  activ- 
ities in  an  entirely  wrong  perspective, 
if  we  imagined  thai  these  natives  are 
temperamentally  lazy  and  can  work 
only  under  some  outside  pressure. 
Tiny  have  a  keen  interest  in  their  gar- 
dens, work  with  spirit,  and  can  do 
sustained  and  efficient  work,  both 
when  they  do  it  individually  and  com- 
munally. 


We  would  see  their  economic  activi- 
ties in  an   entirely  wrong  perspective, 

if  we  were  to  imagine  that  Americans 
are  temperamentally  lazy  and  can 
work  only  under  some  outside  pres- 
sure. They  have  a  keen  interest  in 
their  occupations,  work  with  spirit, 
and  can  do  sustained  work,  both  when 
they  do  it  individually  and  com- 
munally. 


Essential  Identity. 

Whatever  may  be  said  regarding 
the  differences  in  details  of  the  Tro- 
briand  and  Manhattanese  "economics,"' 
how  can  their  essential  identity  be 
reasonably  questioned? 

(  >n  the  one  hand  there  is  the 
childish  belief  in  the  magic  powers 
of   rites,   spells,   and    invocations. 

On  the  other,  the  equally  childish 
belief  in  the  magic  powers  of  inani- 
mate money,  intangible  wealth,  ana 
mythical    credit. 

One  rests  its  unscientific  faith 
(credit)  upon  the  dead  workers  of  the 
past,  the  other  rests  its  equally  un- 
scientific faith  (credit)  upon  the  non- 
existent   workers   of   the   future. 

Both  are  equally  unscientific  in 
their  fatuous  belief  in  effects 
flowing  from  non-existent  causes — 
magic. 

In  both  "economic  systems"  igno- 
rant belief  in  magic,  and  ignorant  be- 
licl  in  the  supposed  power  of 
magicians  over  the  forces  and  pro- 
cesses of  Nature,  are  the  effective 
means  to  enslave  the  worker  masses 
and  control  the  product  of  their  toil. 

"Business  Is  Business." 

That  the  morgan  fellers  of  the  Tro- 
briand  Islands  do  not  work  their 
spells  and  invocations  merely  for 
"the  good  of  their  health,"  nor  en- 
tirely for  the  spiritual  uplift  of  their 
fellows,  is  clear  from  Malinowski's 
account,  hut,  like  practical  business- 
men,   they — get    their    rake-off. 

That  the  Towosis  of  Manhattan 
Island,  et  ah,  do  not  work  their 
credit-and-money-magic  merely  for 
considerations  of  physical  or  spiritual 
hygiene — personal  or  collective — but, 
that  they  (also  like  practical  busi- 
nessmen)    "gel     theirs" — seems     to    be 


indubitable  from  the  evidence  of  the 
"Pujot  Commission  on  the  Money 
Trust"   of    1913,   from    which    1    quote: 

Some  "Gift"! 
"Morgan  &  Co.  and  their  four  chief 
hanking     dependencies     held     control 
of: 
Directorships.  Resources. 

118  in  34  banks     $  2,679,000,000 

105  in  32  transportation 

systems    11,784,000,000 

63  in  24  manufacturing 
and     trading 

companies...     3,339,000,000 
30  in  10  insurance  com- 
panies       2,293,000,000 

25  in  12  public  utilities..     2,150,000,000 


$22,245,000,000" 
Yes!    it    would    certainly    seem    that 
our    Manhattan    Towosis    get    their — 
"gift". 

Before    1914 — And   After. 

This,  remember,  was  in  1913,  be- 
fore the  late  general  fracas — before 
the  world  went  on  its  world-wide 
costly  and  crazy  debauch  of  "credit" 
pipe   dreams. 

During  those  bloody  nightmare 
years  (while  the  White  World,  in 
vital  struggle  and  tragic  desperation, 
was  killing  men  by  the  million  and 
destroying  real  wealth  by  the  bil- 
lion) our  Tricksy  Cunning  financial 
Towrosis  were  busy  too — muttering 
magic  "credit"  spells — uttering  cco- 
nomic-magic  (  hundred-billion -dollar-), 
paper  promises — making  parasitic 
millionaires  by  the  thousand! — ab- 
sorbing   (real)    wealth    by    the    billion! 

Truly,  it  would  appear  that  our 
Towosis  "got  theirs  all  right,  all 
right"! — as  vulgar  Jack  Robinson 
would    put    it. 


TKCIIXOCRACY 


91 


$1,500,000,000,000! 

Commenting  on  "Looking  Forward 
as  We  Glance  Backward"  by  Theo 
dore  H.  Price  (editor  of  "Commerce 
and  Finance")  in  the  Outlook  of 
January  19,  1921,  I  had  occasion  to 
note: 

"Statisticians  give  the  number  of 
the  White  Race  as  about  rive  hun- 
dred millions;  or  say  one  hundred 
million  families.  Taking  the  credit 
debts,  national,  public,  and  private, 
at  fifteen  hundred  billion  dollars  (a 
very  conservative  estimate),  there  is 
a  pro-rata  interest-bearing  debt  ot 
$15,000  saddled  upon  every  family, 
which  at  5%  means  an  inescapable 
interest  charge  of  $750.00  a  year,  or 
$2.00  a   day." 

Seventy-five  billion  dollars  tribute 
every  year — forever! 

That's  the  "gift"  we  bring  our 
Towosis  for  their  magical  "manufac- 
ture  of  credit"  (debts)  to  the  tune  of 
$1,500,000,000,000,  in  a  little  over  a 
generation! 

Yes,    indeed,    some    "GIFT". 

A  "MissingLink". 

From  the  same  article  ("Glancing 
Backward  as  We  Look  Forward," 
by  the  present  writer),  as  pertinent 
and  suggestive  of  a  connecting  link 
and  kinship  between  the  "Econom- 
ics" of  Trobriand  and  Manhattan,  I 
will    further    quote: 

Repeating  Past  Blunders. 

"While  it  is  true  that  history,  as 
Mr.  Price  says,  never  repeats  itself, 
yet  we  may,  if  we  will,  learn  from 
the  past  to  avoid  repeating  past 
blunders. 

For  example  and  as  bearing  on  our 
present  point:  Not  so  very  long  ago 
the  "Church"  was  extensively  en- 
gaged in  selling  "indulgences" — that 
is,  dealing  in  "future  savings", 
"treasures  in  heaven".  In  other 
words,  it  was  floating  super-mun- 
dane credit.  The  makers  and  pur- 
veyors of  these  super-worldly  credit 
instruments  derived  great  worldly 
profit  from  the  traffic,  acquiring  vast 
physical  possessions.  The  credulous 
buyers  of  this  dream-wealth,  on  the 
other  hand,  seem  not  to  have  done 
so  well. 

Super-mundane       credit,       in       this 


form,  and  popular  willingness  to  "ab- 
sorb" these  credit  issues,  gradually 
declined  to  zero  point  (as  the  mar- 
ket "value"  of  Towosi  magic  spells 
wotdd  vanish  in  the  white  light  of — 
botanical  and  agricultural — Science); 
only,  however,  towge  substituted  by 
credit  issues  of  equally  mythical  fu- 
ture wealth,  for  which  credulous  ab- 
sorbers arc  still  plentiful — "one  born 
every    minute,"    so    't    is    said. 

Dream  Wealth. 

The  trouble  with  dealing  with  all 
forms  of  "future"  wealth  lies  in  the 
fact  that  because  the  future  is  in- 
finite in  extent,  its  optimistically 
supposititious  wealth  partakes  of  the 
same  infinite  character;  whereas 
present — that  is,  matter-of-fact  exist- 
ing— wealth  is  necessarily  always 
finite,    limited. 

Great  Expectations. 

To  any  mind  courageous  and  naive 
— that  is,  undistorted  by  pseudo-eco- 
'nomic  and  pseudo-theologic  casuis- 
try— the  difference  between  an  of- 
fering of  "indulgences"  and  a  new 
company's  prospectus  (or  the  prom- 
ise by  a  Towosi  of  a  bumper  crop 
of  Trobriand  yams — )  is  not  nearly 
so  great  as  popularly  assumed.  And 
closer  inspection  will  then  reveal  a 
startling,  but  withal  illuminating, 
identity  in  essential  principle.  In 
either  case  a  transfer  of  actual  com- 
modities is  besought  in  exchange  of 
"Great   Expectations". 

A    Dangerous    Fallacy. 

Herein  lies  the  essential  fallacy  of 
the  world-wide  collective  delusion — 
our    Great    Credit    Myth. 

How  could  anything  different  from 
or  better  than  present  conditions  is- 
sue from   such  a  dangerous   fallacy? 

And  how  could  anyone  discerning 
that  fallacy  (as  I  did,  years  ago,  long 
before  the  war)  fail  to  anticipate 
what  has  actually  come  about?" 

Review. 

We  have  now  reached  a  position 
in  our  investigation  at  which  we  may 
snug  up  the  accumulated  material 
into   more   compact   form: 

The  Universe  disclosses  itself  to 
us    as    dynamic,    creative;    and    Man's 


92 


TECHNOCRACY 


spirit  discloses  itself  as  partaking 
of    the    same    essential    character. 

Man  is  a  self-conscious,  gregarious 
animal  in  a  mechanistic,  animalistic, 
and  man-made  environment,  which 
is  friendly  or  otherwise  depending 
on    how   he   acts   toward   it. 

In  this  marvelous,  manifold,  and 
varied  setting  made  up  of  myriad 
things  and  forces,  wholly  indifferent 
and  neutral  to  his  wants  and  wishes, 
Man  is  free  to  choose  wisely  or 
otherwise  and — take  the  conse- 
quences. 

He  is  even  free  to  be  unfree — if 
he  so  chooses;  for  it  is  only  by  and 
in  the  rational  exercise  of  his  free- 
dom that  he  becomes  free;  spiritually 
free  by  self-liberation  from  the 
irrationalities  of  gross  superstition — 
magic;  physically  free  by  ac- 
quiring and  rationally  using  knowl- 
edge of  the  truths  of  Nature  and  the 
laws    of    her    operations. 

While  his  spirit  is  ever  potentially 
free,  his  physical  freedom  is  condi- 
tioned upon  his  rational  attitude  to- 
wards the  unvarying  law  and  order  of 
the  physical  universe. 

Though  "personally"  Man  is  spirit- 
ually free,  physically  he  is  in  a  world 
in  which  "there  are  others"  (also  spir- 
itually free  and  physically  con- 
ditioned) like  himself,  towards 
whom  as  towards  other  _  ele- 
ments of  his  environment,  he  is  free 
to  act  rationally  or  otherwise,  and — 
take    the     consequences. 

Hence   Society. 

Human  instincts  are  as  much  facts 
in  the  order  of  Nature  as  any  other, 
and  willy-nilly  must  be  acquiesced  in. 
Like  other  elements  of  Man's  en- 
vironment (including  "others"),  in- 
stincts are  friends  or  enemies  de- 
pending upon  how  he  acts  towards 
his  own  and  towards  the  instincts  of 
"others." 

Man's  instincts  are,  so  to  say,  the 
environment  of  his  spirit,  so  self- 
expression  must  satisfy  both  the 
"natural"  urge  of  instincts  and  the 
creative    urge    of    his    spirit. 

Hence    the    "Social    Problem." 

This  problem  involves  the  social 
task    of    harnessing    the    "animal"    by 


socializing  the  instincts  through  ra- 
tional organization  of  society —  the 
social  environment;  and  elimination 
of  ignorant  belief  in  and  reliance 
upon    magic. 

In  the  animal  world,  under  the 
"old  order,"  two  main  survival  paths 
were  open — self-support  and  parasit- 
ism. 

These  survival  trends  passed  over 
into  "human"  development,  so  into 
our  social  expedients  and  conven- 
tions. 

Modern  man  has  acquired  a  prefer- 
ence for  the  "upward"  trend  and 
hence  a  repugnance  to  the  idea  of 
parasitism. 

This  "preference"  has  become — in 
view  of  the  overwhelming  develop- 
ment of  parasitism  (under  "Capital- 
ism") during  the  last  half  century — 
probably  the  most  important  stress 
factor  in  our  modern  "Social  Prob- 
lem." 

The  spirit  of  a  man — with  its  "pref- 
erence" for  the  "upward"  path,  its 
aspirations  after  high  ideals,  its  God- 
like creativeness — resides  in  and  is 
dependent  upon  a  body,  with  its 
physical  needs,  its  physical  wants, 
and   it's   physical    requirements. 

Social    Purpose. 

Taking  all  these  matters  into  con« 
sideration,    it    would    appear    that: 

The  main  (proximate)  purpose  of 
"Society"  is  to  facilitate  the  econ- 
omical production  and  the  efficient 
distribution  of  food,  clothing,  hous- 
ing, etc.,  to  each  of  its  human  units 
without  fictitious  (privilege)  distinc- 
tion, and  in  such  way  as  to  effect 
the  greatest  physical  well-being  of 
its  individual  members. 

But  a  social  organization  which 
ends  merely  as  an  effective  instru- 
ment for  individual  well-being  (re- 
gardless of  humanity's  essentially 
mutual  aspect)  is  little  if  any  ad- 
vance on  raw  non-conscious  gregari- 
ous instinct,  which  also  unifies  the 
herd  (under  the  "old  order")  for 
the    well-being   of   its    members. 

Docs  it  not,  therefore,  seem  ob- 
vious that  a  rational  social  organiza- 
tion— in  order  to  be  consistent  with 
Evolutionary    Progress   and   with    Hu- 


TKCIIXOCRACY 


93 


man  Nature — must  unite  the  consci- 
ous wills  of  its  members  in  "up- 
ward" ever  expanding  and  consci- 
ously   perceived    rational    purposes? 

Does   it   not   seem   obvious    that    the 
only    form     of    national     organization 


which  is  enduring  and  "humanly"  de- 
sirable is  one  in  which  self-conscious- 
nesa  and  other-consciousness,  individ- 
uality and  mutuality,  are  inter-ad- 
justed and  work  harmoniously  for 
the  spiritually  worth-while  purposes 
of    the    Nation? 


Fernwald,    Berkeley,    California, 
May  31,  1921. 


FIFTEEN ^HUNDRED ^BILLION $DOLLARS$CREDIT &DEBT 1 

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common 
people 


Technocracy 


Third  Series 

PART    IV. 

The  World's  Great  Crisis: 

Emergence  of  Social  Self-Consciousness 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 

NOTE:  Part  IV  outlines  Social  Reconstruction  in  the  light  of  the  evi- 
dence and  the  conception  of  man  previously  set  forth.  The  moving  force  and 
the  practical  means  are  indicated  for  bringing  about  such  changes  as  will 
make  of  society  a  truly  "human"  institution,  designed  to  aid  the  expression 
of  human  personality;  and  by  this  enfranchisement  and  the  unison  of  minds 
in  a  national  objective,  raising  the  American  people  to  unguessed  heights  of 
achievement. 


Irascible   Strong. 

Irascible  Strong,  irrepressible  old 
killer,  has  been  relegated  to  the  low- 
ermost social  stratum  of  yegg,  thug 
and    gunfighter    and — war. 

Blundering  old  Irascible;  but,  he 
gave  us  our  reckless  and  unconquer- 
able physical  courage,  and  he  saved 
us  from  a  lot  of  less  desirable,  still 
more  dunder  -  headed  would  -  be  an- 
cestors who  sought  Trixie's  frolic- 
some favors. 

What  do  we  not  owe  to  Irascible's 
uncertain  temper,  his  strenuosity, 
and  his  big  stick!  Oh!  a  bad,  bold 
swashbuckler  was  Irascible  Strong, 
our  humorous  first  parent — a  sigh 
and  rosemary  for  his  strenuous  social 
virtues;  for  his  jocund  peccadils — the 
statute    of    limitations. 

Trixie  Cunning. 

And  what  a  bunch  of  unmitigated 
blundering  boobs  we  would  have 
been,  but  for  Trixie's  frolicsome  even 
if  stealth}^  cunning.  Today,  doubt- 
less none  of  us  would  pick  Trixie 
in  lieu  of  his  own  particular  mother; 
but  as  the  mother  of  the  race,  we 
could   hardly   have   done   better. 

Cunning   Strong. 

Would-be  world  conqueror,  self- 
centered  Cunning  Strong,  has  been 
dumped  into  the  limbo  of  the  gov- 
ernmental scrap-pile,  with  the  pass- 
ing of  Autocracy  and  the  develop- 
ment  of  an  effective  Vox  Populi. 

But    what    would    Democracy    avail 


or  amount  to,  without  its  Cunning 
Strongs!  Where  would  we  find 
worth-while  executives,  or  what  could 
be  substituted  in  leadership,  lacking 
men    of    combined    strength    and    cun- 


ning: 


Tricksy  Cunning. 


Tricksy  Cunning  is  now  in  the  sad- 
dle (or  rather  in  the  counting 
house)  and  in  legal  possession  of 
the  World's  Wealth,  hence  has  con- 
ventional ownership  of  the  World 
and — all    that    it    contains. 

Clearly  Tricksy  is  most  earnestly 
and  conscientiously  (even  if  uncon- 
sciously) doing,  in  these  latter  days 
and  for  her  latest  descendants,  what 
Trixie  did  in  her  own  inimitable 
fashion  for  (their  other  first  parent) 
her   slow-witted  mate. 

Tricksy — truly,  an  all  too  efficient 
eliminator  of  dunderheads — is  jolting 
our  sluggard  wits  in  many  effective 
ways,  and  particularly  those  of  our 
modern  Simple  Strongs — by  killing 
them  off  in  "economic"  wars,  and  in 
peace  "economically"  starving  their 
foolish   bellies. 

His  function  in  the  past  is  of  obvi- 
ous and  inestimable  value,  and  to- 
day it  is  hardly  less  indispensable. 

I  cherish  and  admire  my  Tricksy 
Cunning  friends,  Mr.  Banker  and  Mr. 
Parson;  but  I  do  so  with  my  own 
tricksy  cunning  wits  alert  for  the 
safety  of  my  purse,  and  for  the  free- 
dom of  my  soul;  and  old  Irascible  in 
me  would  joy  to  see  the  Dempsey- 
Carpentier    scientific    slugging    match 


TECHNOCRACY 


95 


and   a   fair   knockout   at   the   end   of   a 
good    stiff   fight. 

Skillful    Strong. 

Of  Skillful  Strong  and  his  past  and 
present  value  nothing  need  be  said: 
his  works  speak  louder  than  words — 
even  megaphoned  from  the  mountain 
tops. 

Simple    Strong. 

But  these  valuable  deviations  from 
the  norm  are  of  little  worth  com- 
pared to  Simple  Strong — the  Masses; 
the  masses  in  whom  is  potential  all 
the  strength  of  Cunning  Strong,  all 
the  cunning  of  Tricksy  Cunning,  all 
the  skill  of  Skillful  Strong;  all  the 
genius,  all  the  spiritual  worth,  all 
the  realizable  ideals  of  the  race. 
If   We    So    Will    It! 

Looked  at  thus  (and  who  will 
question  the  validity  of  this  view), 
what  is  there  in  present  conditions 
about   which   to   be   pessimistic? 

Considering  the  past,  and  the  way 
we  have  come  and  the  victories  we 
have  gained;  considering  our  lowly 
beginnings,  the  infinitude  of  Nature, 
and  the  heights  which  Man  has  at- 
tained physically  and  spiritually,  is 
not  the  future  filled  to  overflowing 
with    glorious    possibilities: 

If    We    so    will    it,    and — have    the 
courage  of  our  convictions. 
Opposite    Outlooks. 

A  school  teacher  recently  destroy- 
ed herself — overwhelmed  with  the 
thought  of  the  siderial  heaven's  mag- 
nitude   compared   to   man. 

How  crassly  foolish,  how  utterly 
irrational     her    thought! 

When  I  consider  the  unbounded 
starry  firmament  and  the  equally  un- 
bounded microcosm — and  Man's  all- 
embracing  Mind  comprehending  both. 
I  am  uplifted  to  the  high  heavens  of 
spiritual  exaltation.  For  what  is 
Betelgeuse  with  its  mere  bulks  of 
incandescent  gases,  no  matter  how 
huge,  or _  the  light  years  of  mere 
space  which  separate  us  from  them, 
compared  to  a  single  human  spirit 
which  takes  in,  weighs,  measures,  an- 
alyses, deduces  past,  present  and 
future,  not  alone  of  Betelgeuse  but 
of  myriad  directioned  other  star 
masses    greater    and    more    distant? 


Should  we   be  depressed? 

•We   should   not! 

Gcd  is  God,  and  Nature  is  His  true 
Prophet:  He  is  in  His  high  Heaven 
and  all  is  well  with  the  World — if 
We  so  choose. 

Social  Self-Consciousness. 

The  necessity  for  rational  choice  is 
upon  us,  immediate,  and  insistent. 

We  are,  as  I  believe,  at  a  momen- 
tous stage  in  human  history;  indeed, 
a  vital  crisis  is  upon  us,  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  race — our  race,  the 
White    Race. 

Something  of  vital  moment  seems 
impending:  it's  in  the  air,  we  all  feel 
it;  sense  it  in  as  many  ways  as  there 
are  differences  in  characters,  tempera- 
ments, interests  and  outlooks:  laws, 
customs,  conventions,  institutions, 
habits,  are  in  turbulent  flux — as  never 
before  in  the  world's  history;  a  war 
is  waged  comparable  to  nothing  in 
human  experience;  the  American  peo- 
ple in  seeming  violation  of  their  con- 
structive instincts,  their  peaceful 
character  and  freedom-loving  nature 
accepts  conscription,  practically  with- 
out a  dissenting  voice  and  becomes 
over  night  a  wealth-destroying  mili- 
tary nation;  with  equal  unanimity  the 
American  people  deprive  themselves 
(voluntarily)  of  many  accustomed 
foods,  that  other  nations  might  eat; 
they  loan  (virtually  give)  their  wealth 
by  the  billion  to  save  other  nations 
from   vital   harm. 

Volumes  have  been  written  upon 
the  signal  happenings  of  our  times, 
so  I  will  only  add  (as  I  have  not  seen 
the  matter  I  have  in  mind  referred  to 
in  a  manner  commensurate  with  its 
significance)  that  this  United  States, 
the  largest,  most  united,  most  power- 
ful political  division  of  the  White 
Race,  discarding  all  precedent,  de- 
manded, asked  or  accepted  no  quid 
pro  quo  for  these  lavish  contributions 
to  an  ideal,  but  voluntarily,  unani- 
mously, gladly  gave  of  its  blood,  its 
man-power,  its  wealth,  and  its  re- 
sources— a  gloriously  unique  and  stu- 
pendous exemplification  of  united  col- 
lective spirit — national  altruism:  al- 
truism— national  altruism,  mark  you: 
altruism  i.  e.  "other-consciousness," 
the  necessary  concomitant  of  Self- 
consciousness. 


96 


TECHNOCRACY 


Is  ii  conceivable  that  all  this  exal- 
tation of  human  vitality,  all  this  tor- 
rential outpouring  of  human  emotion, 
all  this  spiritual  uplift,  means  nothing 
— nothing  but  a  trivial  passing  phase? 

I  cannot  so  see  it. 

And.  what  phrases  are  more  com- 
monly current  today  than  "Group  con- 
sciousness," "Class  consciousness," 
"National  consciousness?" 

To  me  it  seems  (and  the  notion  will 
not  down)  that  it  all  presages  social 
re-birth:  that  what  I  have  noted  and 
what  I  have  implied  are  the  preliminary 
symptoms,  the  birth  pains  of  social 
regeneration  through  the  emergence 
of    Social    Self-consciousness. 

"Animal"  vs.  "Human." 

My  fervent — and  I  firmly  believe 
my  rationally  founded — hope  is,  that 
it  is  so. 

If  my  hope  is  only  a  foolish  and  il- 
lusory dream,  then,  indeed,  must  I 
shed  my  comforting  optimism,  and 
look  with  what  philosophic  resignation 
I  can  muster  at  the  ominous  future 
which  faces  our  White  Civilization. 

For  as  I  envisage  the  situation,  it 
would  appear  as  a  life-and-death  con- 
test between  antithetical  forces — so- 
cially destructive  "animal"  parasitism 
(emphasized  by  Capitalism),  and  the 
vital  emergence  of  regenerative  "hu- 
man" social  self-consciousness. 

If  the  latter  is  laggard  or  unduly  de- 
layed, by  ignorance,  or  by  greedy 
parasitic  design,  the  "downward" 
trend  will  carry  us  into  the  social 
quagmire,  the  social  slough  of  de- 
spond, in  which  will  be  overwhelmed 
beneath  the  slime  of  animalism,  the 
civilization   of  the    White    World. 

Menace  or  Salvage. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  we  can  and  do 
accelerate  the  development  of  social 
self-conscious  rationality — mutuality — 
the  very  momentum  of  the  parasitic 
forces  may  be  turned  to  social  good. 
And  those  super-one-sided  individuals 
who  now  in  the  exercise  of  their 
highly  trained  acquisitive  propensities 
are  a  social  menace  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced type,  will  under  the  (second) 
"new  order"  of  human  development 
become  social  factors  of  great  human 
worth   and   of   highest    social    value. 


Confirmatory. 

(Within  an  hour  after  writing  the 
foregoing,  I  read  in  the  editorial  col- 
umn of  the  morning's  paper  [June  7] 
a  few  short  paragraphs,  so  peculiarly 
apropos,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from 
quoting    them: 

"The  City  of  New  York  is  in  debt 
more  than  a  thousand  million  dollars. 
One  citizen,  if  it  were  possible  to  re- 
alize on  his  possessions  at  their  full 
value,  could  pay  the  debt  of  New  York 
City  and  have  more  than  a  thousand 
million  left.  These  are  days  of  big 
figures. 

"Observe  this  fact:  If  this  man,  fifty 
years  ago,  had  been  put  in  charge  of 
New  York  City's  finances,  with  power 
to  develop  its  street  cars,  wharves, 
real  estate,  gas,  electric  light,  tele- 
phone and  other  natural  monopolies 
for  the  public  benefit,  New  York  City 
wouldn't  owe  a  dollar,  would  have  no 
disgraceful  slums  and  would  have  a 
thousand  millions  in  the  bank — if  it 
chose. 

"At  this  point  in  our  progress  to- 
ward civilization,  exceptional  individ- 
ual intelligence  is  devoted  to  exploit- 
ing the  masses.  Later  it  will  strive  to 
protect  and  enrich  them.  Then  many 
problems  will  be  solved.") 

Evolutionary  Revolution. 

All  of  us,  I  take  it,  have  accepted 
in  some  form  or  other  that:  Nature's 
method  is  evolutionary. 

This,  however,  does  not  exclude 
cataclysms — crises.  Indeed,  that  such 
cccur  in  "Nature"  is  even  more  ob- 
vious than  its  antithesis  —  develop- 
ment  by    infinitely    small    changes. 

Animal  evolution,  then,  as  in  geo- 
logic adjustment,  proceeds  by  a  iong 
series  of  imperceptible  changes  till  a 
point  of  critical  stress  is  reached,  then 
comes  the  jar,  the  shock — the  evolu- 
tionary revolution — a  new  species  is 
suddenly  formed,  or  it  may  be  a  new 
order  of  conditions  is  inaugurated,  to 
form  in  its  turn  a  new  point  of  evo- 
lutionary  departure. 

Social   Cataclysms. 

Social  development  (as  I  read  his- 
tory and  see  it  in  its  becoming)  is  not 
exempt  from  this  otherwise  universal 
— revolutionary — phase  of  evolution. 

In   the   complex   of  society,   gradual 


TECHNOCRACY 


97 


evolutionary  changes  are  easily  ob- 
servable as  proceeding  incessantly. 
Ihit  what  is  not  nearly  so  apparent  is 
the  Fact  that  superadded  to  this  slow 
change  then'  is  to  be  noted  (by  those 
who  have  eyes  to  see)  an  accumulat- 
ing mas-  strain,  which  will  and  must, 
sooner  or  later,  be  released  with  the 
always  unexpected  suddenness  of  an 
earthquake. 

Must    White   Race    Go? 

This  possibility  of  an  "evolution- 
ary revolution"  is  not  a  mere  thought 
or  theory  which  can  be  lightly  waived 
aside.  It  is  profoundly  serious  and 
possibly  a  tragic  condition  which 
confronts   us. 

As  a  tragic  crisis  to  an  individual 
leaves  a  blank  which  takes  time  to 
till;  as  our  San  Francisco  disaster 
left  behind  it  human  misery  not  yet 
assuaged,  obliterated  wealth  and  art 
treasures  much  of  which  can  never 
be  replaced,  made  miles  square  of 
black  ruin  involving  huge  unneces- 
sary expenditure  of  human  energy 
to  repair;  as  the  World  War  lett 
in  its  wake  devastation  and  debt 
which  will  take  generations  to  rep- 
arate  and  liquidate:  so  the  racial 
catastrophe,  when  it  comes — as  come 
it  will — may  sweep  the  white  race 
into  chaos,  out  of  which  ages  of 
time  alone  can  again  bring  order — 
possibly  with  the  White  Race  gone 
for  all   time. 

Yes,  the  white  race  gone  for  all 
time! 

Up  to  Us. 

For  "Nature"  cares  no  more  for 
the  white  race  than  she  does  for  a 
drug-crazed  individual,  or  for  thought- 
less San  Francisco,  or  for  suicidal 
Europe. 

But     .     .     ! 

As  an  individual  can,  by  rational 
foresight,  turn  temporary  ills  into 
permanent  benefit,  so  the  American 
Nation,  by  such  foresight  and  fore- 
handed preparation,  may  turn  im- 
pending crises  into  practically  ever- 
lasting social  betterment — opportuni- 
ties for  unguessed  heights  of  achieve- 
ment. 

If  We  so   choose. 


Die  or  Diet? 

One  of  the  common  expedients  in 
Agriculture  to  get  rid  of  predatory 
pests  is  to  foster  their  "natural  en- 
emy" —  dogs  for  sheep-destroying 
wolves,  cats  for  rats,  mongooses  for 
snakes,   parasites   for  parasites. 

And  this  expedient  is  usually  more 
effective  and  cheaper  than  shot- 
guns. 

You  will  remember  also  that  when 
(by  super-strenuous  predatory  atten- 
tion) the  particular  prey  of  a  preda- 
tor, or  host  of  a  parasite,  "plays  out," 
the  predator  has  only  two  options — 
either   to   die   or  to  reform   his   diet. 

"Preference." 

Recall  now  the  two  (self-support 
and  parasitic)  trends  of  survival  ef- 
fort referred  to  in  Part  III  of  this 
Technocracy  series  —  the  "upward" 
and   "downward"   path. 

You  will  remember  I  said  towards 
the   end   of  that   Part: 

"Modern  man  has  acquired  a  pref- 
erence for  the  'upward'  trend  and 
hence  a  repugnance  to  the  idea  ot 
parasitism. 

"This  'preference'  has  become — in 
view  of  the  overwhelming  develop- 
ment of  parasitism  (under  'Capital- 
ism') during  the  past  half-century — 
probably  the  most  important  stress 
factor  in  our  modern  'Social  Prob- 
lem'." 

Modern    Economics — Parasitic. 

Indeed  it  can  hardly  be  questioned 
that  modern  economics,  that  modern 
industrial  enterprises,  that  modern 
political  entities  or  Nations  (regard- 
less of  what  they  are  called  or  the 
wording  of  their  constitutions)  are 
fundamentally  based  upon  the  racially 
primordial  principle  of  "parasitism", 
and    not   upon    that    of    "self-support". 

Individually  human  intelligence  has 
developed  a  "preference"  for  the  "up- 
ward" path:  lagging  social  intelli- 
gence has  developed  conformably  to 
the  "downward"  course  —  hence  the 
rapidly  growing  stress  and  imminent 
catastrophic  adjustment  jolt — evolu- 
tionary  revolution. 

Easy     Street— Sweat     Street? 

I  have  also,  on  numerous  occa- 
sions,   reminded    you    that    Taking    is 


98 


TECHNOCRACY 


easier  than  Making,  and  cunning 
costs  less  physical  effort  than  work. 
Basking  in  the  bright  lights  of  the 
roof-gardens  on  Easy  Street  is  sen- 
sually pleasanter  than  toiling  and 
moiling  in  the  mud  of  Sweat  Street. 
Quite  "naturally"  the  roof-gardens 
tend  to  overcrowding  —  introducing 
structural  stresses  tending  to  sudden 
collapse  or  other  catastrophic  jolt — 
the  "natural'  outcome  of  man's  irra- 
tional  misuse   of  his    freedom. 

Cheese    Sandwiches    and    Beer. 

You  remember  the  excursion  boat, 
and  how  she  turned  turtle  and 
drowned  hundreds  of  her  human 
freight   in    the    Chicago    river. 

Had  the  same  weight  been  dis- 
posed below  the  waterline  instead  of 
upon  the  upper. decks:  it  would  have 
required  many  thousand  foot-tons  of 
force,  days  of  time,  and  elaborate  en- 
gineering, to  do  what  "she"  did  in 
seconds  with  the  ease  of  a  sleight- 
of-hand   artist. 

Had  those  running  the  excursion 
boat  (foreseeing  the  danger)  ar- 
ranged long  tables  with  piles  of 
cheese  sandwiches  thereon  and  kegs 
of  beer  on  tap  at  convenient  inter- 
vals— all  on  the  lower  deck,  below 
the  waterline  (whatever  might  have 
happened  to  exuberant  individuals), 
the  turning  turtle  would  not  have 
happened   to   the  boat. 

Merely  Illustrative. 

Of  course,   I'm   not  putting   forward 
this   particular   precautionary   measure 
as    a    general    remedy.     .      .      .      Mere- 
ly   illustrative    of   a    principle. 
You    understand? 

Any  way,  "she"  would  not  have 
turned  turtle,  and  thus  the  costly 
consequences  would  have  been 
avoided. 

To    that    you   will    certainly   agree. 

Bui  you  may  protest:  Boats  do 
not  usually  turn  turtle — so  how  could 
any   one    foresee     .      .      .      ? 

No  power  in  the  Universe  will 
compel  one  to  foresee! 

But!    if   one    does    not    foresee  .   .  .    ; 

Call  the  Turn! 
Nature    makels    no    distinction    be- 
tween  the   dung-ball  of  a   tumble-bug, 
a  human  being,  a  teeming   metropolis, 


or  a  race;  or  whether  a  race  be 
white,    black,    yellow,    or — green. 

Nor  does  Nature  care  a  tinker's 
dam  for  "untoward  consequences" — 
as    humanly    conceived. 

If  the  conditions  naturally  call  for 
catastrophic  turtle-turning —  Nature 
will    call    the    turn. 

"Society"  Topheavy. 

And  it  would  certainly  seem  that 
social  conditions  are  ripe  and  nat- 
urally call  for  the  social  structure  to 
turn  turtle,  for  it  is  obviously  top- 
heavy. 

There  is  too  much  superstructure 
above  the  waterline,  too  much  at- 
traction on  the  upper  deck — and  too 
little  "sandwiches  and  beer"  below 
the  waterline — to  satisfy  modern 
man,     the     modern     "masses". 

Seventy-five  billion  dollars  yearly 
interest — "unearned  increment" — para- 
sitically  abstracted  from  the  toiling 
and   moiling   proletariat! 

Animalistic — Humanistic. 

In  brief,  and  this  is  our  (oft-men- 
•tioned.  but  seldom  baldly  stated)  "So- 
cial Problem":  our  social  structure  is 
built  to  facilitate  and  develop  para- 
sitism— parasitism  which  is  essen- 
tially animalistic,  not  a  humanistic 
principle. 

Hence  (humanly  speaking)  our  so- 
cial structure  is  built  upon  a  false 
basic   principle. 

The  inevitable  outcome  requires  no 
prophet    to    foretell — it    is    obvious: 

If  "society"  continues  along  pres- 
ent lines  of  development,  the  "ani- 
mal" will  survive,  the  "human"  will 
perish. 

Truly!  turning  turtle  of  the  social 
structure  is  imminent — if  -  we  -  don't - 
look  -  out! 

Detail  Remedies  Futile. 

Since  the  existing  social  structure  is 
faulty — false  in  principle,  it  is  self- 
evident  that  no  amount  of  well-inten- 
tioned "remedial"  measures  directed 
to  specific  "evils"  will  be  of  avail.  Such 
activities  may,  indeed,  conceivably 
make  the  general  "evil"  worse,  by 
adding  stresses  and  accentuating  mal- 
adjustment and  lack  of  co-ordination 
between  man's  essential  nature  and  his 
social    machinery. 


TECHNOCRACY 


99 


Reconstruction  means  that: 
Our  reconstructive  efforl  must  be 
expended  purposive  ly  along  basic 
lines,  on  fundamental  principles  to 
bring  the  resulting  "society"  into  har- 
mony with  man's  essential  "human" 
nature. 

The  Inventor — A  Teacher. 
The  typical  inventor  is  pre-eminent- 
ly   the    man    who      consciously      (and 
painstakingly)     seeks    and    finds    new 

and  favorable  relations  to  natural 
forces,  for  the  realization  of  a  pre- 
conceived purpose:  the  purpose  being 
the  satisfaction  of  a  "want,"  i.e.  lack 
of  adjustment  to  environment. 

He  makes  dreams  come  true. 

He  translates  an  idea  into  a  useable 
thing. 

A  successful  machine  is  only  an 
idea  (or  group  of  ideas)  become  em- 
bodied. It  is  the  essential  idea,  not 
the  mass  of  details,  which  character- 
izes the  completed  result.  As  in  anal- 
ysing the  battleship,  you  will  remem- 
ber, I  called  to  your  attention,  not  a 
mass  of  bewildering  detail  parts,  but 
the  essential  ideas  and  how  they  hang 
together  and  combine  to  produce  a 
unitary  result. 

What,  then,  have  we  specifically 
available  for  social  reconstruction, 
analogous,  or  socially  corresponding 
first:  to  the  inventor's  means,  and 
second:    to  his  mental  equipment? 

Some  "Means"! 

As  to  the  first:  The  United  States 
has  more  than  a  hundred  million  peo- 
ple: vast  productive  power:  vast  con- 
sumption capability,  vast  "purchasing" 
power.  Its  natural  resources  are  on 
even  larger  scale.  It  has  every  essen- 
tial food  product  and  raw  material 
except  rubber.  More  than  three  mil- 
lion square  miles  in  solid  mass,  ex- 
traordinarily diversified  climatically 
and  topographically,  etc.  About  300 
million  acres  under  cultivation:  lead- 
ing place  among  all  nations.  More 
farm  animals  than  combined  five  prin- 
cipal civilized  nations  next  United 
States.  Forest  only  exceeded  by  Rus- 
sia. Half  the  world's  coal  measures 
are  in  the  United  States.  One-third  of 
world's  railway  mileage  in  the  United 
States;  and  one-sixth  of  the  world's 
postoffices. 


The  United  Stales,  with  only  6% 
of  the  world's  population,  produces  of 
the   world's 

( rold    '. 21 )'  i 

Silver    40'; 

Iron  and  steel   409< 

Copper   60'  - 

Lead  41 )'  I 

Zinc     50'  e 

Aluminum   60*  '< 

Coal    50% 

Cotton    60% 

Coal   oil  66% 

Wheat    25% 

Corn    75% 

Automobiles  85% 

(?) 

Loans  to  European  gov- 
ernments     $10,000,000,000 

Private  loans  10,000,000,000 

Merchandise  on  con- 
signment       2,000,000,000 

"Investments"     8,000,000,000 

$30,000,000,000 

which  "the  United  States"  has  coming 
(?)   from   Europe. 

Some  "Equipment"! 

And  as  to  the  second:  It  is  a  mis- 
taken notion  that  "inventiveness"  is  a 
special  "faculty"  endowing  the  few 
and  withheld  from  the  many.  (As 
clearly  pointed  out  in  a  widely  copied 
article,  "Is  the  Inventive  Faculty  a 
Myth,"  by  the  present  writer,  in  the 
Engineering  Magazine,  May,  1895.) 
Varying  at  most  in  degree,  inventive- 
ness is  a  universal  "human"  posses- 
sion; though  by  most  people  little 
used  and  hence  not  fully  realized.  And 
through  disuse  (both  self-inhibited  and 
socially  repressed)  has  become  "prac- 
tically" unusable  and  so  "practically" 
lacking,  in  many  individuals,  hence 
seemingly  rare  in  the  community. 

This  general  inventiveness  is  sus- 
ceptible of  enormous  development 
through  judicious  exercise  and  proper 
stimulation,  both  individually  and  so- 
cially, of  which  stimulation — freedom 
is  the  foremost  factor. 

But  there  is  also  available  a  body  of 
special  inventiveness,  which  hitherto 
(most  stupidly)  has  not  been  socially 
tapped:  the  Scientists  and  the  Tech- 
nicians. 


100 


TECHNOCRACY 


"To  Know"— "To  Make." 

These  Scientists  and  these  Techni- 
cians arc  the  best  fitted  by  nature,  by 
instinct,  by  economic  trait,  and  by 
educational  training,  to  seek  and  to  es- 
tablish appropriate  social  relations  to 
natural  and  national  physical  forces 
and   resource-. 

The  Scientist  is  so  fitted  because  he 
is  the  most  intensive  human  expres- 
sion of  the  "Desire  to  Know,"  which 
desire  rises  from  the  general  mass  of 
the  animal  (monkey-like)  instinct  of 
curiosity. 

The  Technician  is  so  fitted  because 
lit  is  the  most  intensive  human  expres- 
sion of  the  urge  to  real-ize,  which  urge 
rises  from  the  general  mass  of  the 
animal   (beaver-like)    instinct  to  make. 

But  the  work  of  both  scientist  and 
technician,  hitherto,  has  been  "pri- 
vate;" socially,  (collectively)  unco- 
ordinated, often  enough  contradictory, 
frequently  anti-socially. 

Technocracy. 

Wry  significant  of  the  parasitic 
trend  of  present  "society"  is  the  woe- 
ful contrast  between  how  much  ap- 
plied science  has  increased  the  mere 
hulk  of  products,  and  how  little  the 
infinitely  more  important  physical  and 
spiritual   freedom   of   the   producer. 

And  this,  in  spite  of  the  fact,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  the  prime  function  of 
"society"  is  the  liberation  of  person- 
ality not — the  deification  of  "efficient" 
productivity. 

Since,  as  a  rule,  scientists  and  tech- 
nicians are  not  rich  men's  sons  (and 
a  man  must  eat  to  live)  their  work 
usually  is  performed  for  the  "good"  of 
the  possessing  few  rather  than  for  the 
benefit  of  the  wanting  many  or — the 
( '( immonweal. 

In  the  First  Series  of  these  Tech- 
nocracy papers  I  indicated,  on  broad 
lines  but  sufficiently  clearly  for  prac- 
tical purposes  a  "practical  remedy" — 
Technocracy. 

Towosieized  Technicians. 
On  numerous  occasions  I  have  di- 
rected your  attention  to  the  prac- 
tically universal  belief  in  magic — 
magic  causation.  The  use  directly 
and  indirectly,  both  of  this  fallacy 
and  of  the  widespread  belief  therein, 
makes     them     into    effective    handser- 


vants  of  parasitism  under  its  "Cap- 
italistic"  expression. 

The  spirit  and  method  of  Science 
arc  the  direct  antithesis  of  magic. 

It  is  science  which  has  produced 
the   "Machine   Shop". 

It  is  magic  that  has  produced 
"Finance". 

In  the  machine  shop.  Science  rules 
only  in  so  far  as  machine  processes 
go:   there   its   control   stops. 

The  social  control  of  the  Machine 
Shop  lies  with  the  Towosis  of 
Finance. 

Thus  it  is  that  our  Towosis  (like 
those  Of  Trobriand)  control  not  only 
the  work,  the  workmen,  the  work 
shop — "industrial  society"  is  only  the 
Great  Work  Shop — but  our  Towosis 
run    the    scientists    and    Science    itself! 

The  "natural"  consequence  of  this 
non-social  ("kept")  position  of  scien- 
tists ami  technicians,  including  our 
Towosi  pensioned  teachers  and  Pro- 
fessors of  "Economics",  is  that  they 
have  acquired  a  bias  in  favor  of  para- 
sitic Tricksy  C.  Towosi,  both  of 
which  (i.  e.,  Towosi  and  their  bias 
in  his  favor)  arc  in  pathetically  lu- 
dicrous opposition  to  their  own  in- 
tellectual  essence. 

Towosieized  Industry. 

The  existing  mix-up  of  course  is 
advantageous  to  Emperor  Towosi  of 
Finance,  to  the  Kings  Towosi  of 
Commerce,  to  the  Barons  Towosi  of 
Industry,  and  to  all  the  lesser  To- 
wosis in  their  various  degrees,  and 
is  naturally  supported  by  them.  In- 
deed, the  functional  mix-up,  in  large 
part,  directly  results  from  this  per- 
niciously parasitic  pyramidal  Towosi 
system  of  self-assumed  autocratic 
rule. 

The  liberation  of  our  Industrial  De- 
mocracy from  the  baneful  influence 
and  Autocratic  rule  of  Tricksy  C. 
Towosi  magic  would  make  possible 
the  elimination  of  the  existing  con- 
fusion, resulting  from  the  chaotic  in- 
termingling of  the  component  pro- 
cesses  of  Production,  Distribution, 
and  Direction,  with  enormously  en- 
hanced "freedom  of  opportunity"  for 
"personal"      initiative — self-expression. 

The  emancipation  of  science,  of 
technology,  of  productive  industry, 
and   thus  of  all  society,  from   the  con- 


TECHNOCRACY 


101 


trol  of  Tricksy  C.  Towosi  (his  myth- 
ical manufactured  "credit"  and  his 
money  magic)  can  only,  as  I  see  it, 
be  accomplished  by  science  nation- 
alized— Technocracy. 

Produce  -  Distribute  -  Direct. 

The  tripartite  division  of  industrial 
process  into  Production,  Distribution, 
and  Direction  is  obligatory  from  its 
nature.  Necessary  because  it  corre- 
sponds to  the  tripart  separation  of 
the  natural  economic  urge  which  dif- 
ferentiates men  into,  and  motivates, 
Skilful  Strongs,  Cunning  Strongs,  and 
Tricksy    Cunnings. 

To  violate  this  division  by  over- 
lapping or  by  exchange  of  natural 
function,  is  to  flout  Nature,  for  it 
attempts  to  negate  a  nature  given 
Law. 

To  break  Nature's  laws  is  an  of- 
fence which  neither  man  individually 
nor  man  collectively  —  society  —  can 
commit   with   impunity. 

Blind  Leaders   of   the   Blind. 

One  natural  result  of  such  irra- 
tionality is  present  day  social  con- 
fusion— futile  functioning  from' which 
few  (seemingly)  benefit,  while  many 
really  suffer.  For  even  the  few  en- 
joy only  temporary  and  a  very  ques- 
tionable   "good". 

Thus  irrationally  led  civilization 
has    run   wild — chasing   phantoms. 

Verily!  the  World  is  vibrant  with 
signs,  Europe  reeks  with  bloody  por- 
tents, and  the  whole  Towosi  Finan- 
cial Cabal  has  gone  megalomaniac — 
dreaming  "credit"  pipe-dreams  of  the 
boundless  wealth  of  infinite  futurity, 
and  greedily  striving  to  grasp  these 
mythical    billions! 

Whom  the  gods  would  destroy 
they  first  make  mad. 

Scientist — Social  Servant. 

Think    for   a    moment    of    T.    N.    T. 

Think  of  Twenty-inch-,  and  Sev- 
enty-five-mile   Guns.     .     .     . 

Think   of  Air-ships.     .     . 

Think   of   Submarines.     .     .     . 

Think  of  "Poison  Dew" — that  can 
destroy  all  human  life  for  miles 
around. 

Think   of   disease   germs.     .     . 

Think  of  all  the  devilish  poten- 
tialities   of    science    and    technology — 


in  the  hands  of  self-centered  Tricksy 
Cunning.     .     . 

Think     .     .     .     ! 

Then  .  .  .  Is  it  not  as  apparent 
to  you,  as  it  seems  self-evident  to 
me,  that  this  "need"  (of  nationalizing 
the  Scientist  and  Technician)  has  be- 
come a  crying  "want" — a  danger- 
fraughl  mal-adjustment  in  modern 
society,    our    Alan-made    environment? 

Then  .  .  .  Does  it  not  strike 
you  as  a  self-evidently  valid  eco- 
nomic expedient  and  a  wholly  ra- 
tional   proposition: 

That,  by  virtue  alone  of  becoming 
a  Scientist  or  a  Technician,  one 
should  thereby  concomitantly  and 
concurrently  become  an  honored  and 
suitably  rewarded  National  Official — 
Public   Servant? 

That,  every  academy  or  college  of 
Science  and  Technology  should  be 
an  industrial  "West  Point",  a  con- 
structive "Annapolis" — a  National 
training  school  of  con-structive  In- 
dustrial  Democracy? 

"Let  Him  Be  Your  Servant." 

For  this  social  "need"  to  become 
a  generally  recognized  social  "want"; 
for  the  validity  of  this  proposition  to 
be  generally  self-evident,  there  is  re- 
quired not  only  an  enlightened  vision 
of  their  social  function  by  scientists 
and  technicians,  but  its  discernment 
by  the  sovereign  People,  the  source 
of  all  power  and  progress  of  the 
Nation. 

"And  whosoever  will  be  chief  (i  e., 
leader)  among  you,  let  him  be  your 
servant." 

That — is    Industrial    Democracy. 

Parasitic  Toll  Gates. 

There  can  be  no  "freedom  of  the 
seas"  while  one  nation  controls  the 
Commerce  Routes:  in  like  manner, 
there  can  be  no  "freedom  of  oppor- 
tunity" while  one  (acquisitive)  class 
controls  the  Highways  of  Oppor- 
tunity needed  for  human  self-expres- 
sion (natural  forces,  resources  and 
means  of  production),  with  parasitic 
toll-gates    of    conventional    ownership. 

Perish — Parasitically. 

Not  parasitism,  but  creative  self- 
expressing  Personality  is  the  quin- 
tessence    of    "human     nature",     hence 


102 


TECHNOCRACY 


of  "human"  need:  "Social  Recon- 
struction"— our  Social  Problem — has 
plainly  posed  for  it  its  ultimate  ob- 
ject. 

This  must  be  the  central  idea  of 
reconstructed   human   society. 

The   what  to  be   attained  is   clear. 

How  it  is  to  be  attained  is  equally 
unequivocal. 

Society  must  be  so  re-organized  as 
to  give  the  amplest  opportunity  (not 
alone  to  Tricksy  Cunning,  but)  _  to 
each  citizen  for  real-izing  his  aspira- 
tions.   ■ 

It  must  do  this,  or — perish  para- 
sitically. 

Obviously  the  conscious  and  pur- 
posive desire  for  such  a  society  is  it- 
self an   aspiration. 

But     .     .     .     ! 

Aspirations,  be  it  always  remem- 
bered, conceived  in  the  "realm  of 
spirit",  must  (and  can  only  be)  real- 
ized in  the  world  of  acts  and  things. 
They  must  be  "reduced  to  practice" 
in  a  world  of  mechanical  matter  and 
physical  acts. 

"Force  of  Ideas." 

It  folloAvs  directly  from  this  that 
the  oft-repeated  and  cherished  phrase 
"the  force  of  ideas"  expresses  a  wide- 
spread misconception,  a  fallacious, 
dangerously    misleading    notion. 

The  only  "force"  which  science 
has  recognized  or  knows  anything 
about,  is  the  "force"  which  moves 
ponderable  objects.  But,  Ideals  and 
Ideas  expressed  in  acts  and  things 
(i.  e.,  force  and  matter),  sums  up 
the   miracle   of  human   life. 

Reduction  to  Practice. 

Mal-adjustments  —  needs,  lacks  — 
conscious    "wants,"   are   our   urges; 

Nature,  is  our  boundless  store  of 
forces  and   resources; 

Science,,  is  our  systematized  de- 
scriptive catalogue  of  these  forces  and 
resources; 

Technology,  is  our  tested  and  spe- 
cialized experience  in  dealing  with  the 
available  materials,  means,  methods 
and  processes — systematized  by  Sci- 
ence—wherewith to  satisfy  our  "wants"; 

Invention,  is  (and  ideally  exhibits) 
the  method  of  reducing  productive 
ideas   and   ideals  to   practice; 

Finance,     is     (and     ideally     exhibits) 


the  method  of  reducing  parasitic  ideas 
and   ideals  to   practice. 

From  the  effects  and  effective  meth- 
ods of  "Invention"  we  may  get  valu- 
able suggestions  as  to  what  social 
course  to  pursue,  and  from  the  effects 
and  effective  methods  of  "Finance"  we 
may  get  equally  valuable  suggestions 
as  to  what  to  avoid  in  our  solution  of 
the  "Social  Problem,"  and  the  reduc- 
tion  of  the   solution   to   practice. 

Social   Dreams. 

Then :  Exercising  our  unified  free- 
dom to  choose  our  Social  Destiny;  in- 
ventively using  our  combined  con- 
structive imagination  to  visualize  it, 
our  mutualized  reason  to  rationally 
plan  it,  utilizing  our  racial  experience 
scientifically  organized  and  our  scien- 
tifically co-ordinated  national  re- 
sources to  actualize  it;  we  may  cour- 
ageously attack  our  "Social  Problem" 
with  well-founded  hopeful  confidence 
that  we  will  realize  imagination's  pic- 
tured social  joys  and  rational  social 
purposes,  and — prevent  the  recur- 
rence of  painfully  remembered  social 
mishaps.  Thus,  as  the  Inventor 
realizes  his  ideas,  we,  too,  can  ma'ice 
our  social  dreams   come  true. 

And  so — like  Mr.  W.  Man  of  our 
parable — our  days  may  be  long  in 
our  long-sought  land  of  promise, 
which  some  call  the  Country  of  Self- 
Realization,  and  many  others,  the 
Land  of  Joyous  Accomplishment;  but 
most,  (Simple  Strongs,)  name  it  sim- 
ply— Opportunity. 

Essentials    of    Productive    Industry. 

As  adequate  differentiation  is  one 
law  of  a  successful  machine,  so  co- 
ordination is  the  other.  This  is  ex- 
hibited in  the  machine  which  is  Man, 
no  less  than  by  the  purposive  struc- 
tures  he   makes. 

Lacking  self-consciousness  there 
can  be  no  purpose; 

Lacking  purpose  there  can  be  no 
co-ordination; 

Lacking  co-ordination  there  can  be 
no  realization  of  purpose; 

Lacking  knowledge  of  Nature  there 
can   be   no   successful   industry; 

Lacking  the  requirements  of  Na- 
ture's laws  and  the  needs  of  Human 
Nature  —  the      most      fundamental     of 


TECHNOCRACY 


103 


which  is  freedom — there  can  be  no 
permanent  productive  organization; 

Lacking  (unhampered)  direction  of 
scientists  and  technicians,  (whose 
Nature-made  function  is  to  know  and 
to  utilize  the  facts  and  forces  of 
Nature,)  there  can  be  no  permanent 
modern  industry; 

Lacking  organized  production,  dis- 
tribution, and  direction,  with  effective 
co-ordination  of  the  economic  traits 
(strength,  skill,  cunning) — all  unified 
for  a  predetermined  purpose — there 
can  be  no  (private  or  public)  indus- 
trial organization. 

Essentials   of   Industrial   Democracy. 

Thus,  from  all  the  foregoing,  it 
conclusively  appears  that: 

Lacking  spiritual   liberty; 

Lacking  organized  co-ordination  of 
the  economic  factors — Strong  men; 
Skilled  men;  Cunning  men; 

Lacking  intelligent  (non-parasitic) 
co-ordination  of  the  natural  forces 
and  resources; 

Lacking  rational  (natural)  division 
into  production,  distribution,  direc- 
tion; 

Lacking  guidance  of  worthy  na- 
tional leaders,  whose  minds  are 
"stored  with  knowledge  of  the  great 
and  fundamental  truths  of  Nature  and 
the   Laws   of  her  operations"; 

Lacking  nationally-conscious  pur- 
pose; 

Lacking  any  of  these  essentials 
there  can  be  no  true  and  permanent 
Industrial   Democracy:   Q.   E.   D. 

Unifying    Spirit. 

As  my  constructive  imagination  vis- 
ualizes the  modern  social  complex 
and  its  "Social  Problem,"  these  Na- 
ture-made requirements  are  met  and 
provided    for    by    Technocracy. 

But,    above   all,    and   before   all,    (as 


I  see  it),  there  can  be  no  true,  worth- 
while and  permanent  national  "So- 
ciety" (worthy  of  the  Human  Race, 
which  has  produced  Newton,  Shakes- 
pear,  Socrates,  Christ),  lacking  uni- 
fied National  Self-conscious  Spirit — 
initiative  with  responsibility — and 
hence  an  ever  upward  expanding  ra- 
tional, consciously  perceived  National 
Purpose,  expressing  our  National  Per- 
sonality—A GREAT  NATIONAL 
OBJECTIVE. 


Postcript. 

What  I  have  written  in  these  Tech- 
nocracy papers  is  not  destructive  crit- 
icism. On  the  contrary,  if  there  is 
truth  in  the  ideas  which  I  have  en- 
deavored to  formulate,  if  there  is  va- 
lidity in  any  of  my  propositions,  then 
they  can  only  be  constructive.  For 
truth  is  destructive  only  of  fallacies, 
errors  and  ignorance;  which  is  only  a 
round-about  way  of  describing  con- 
struction. 

What  I  have  endeavored  to  do  is 
to  answer,  for  my  own  individual  sat- 
isfaction, and  out  of  my  social  urge, 
these    questions: 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  Social 
Unrest? 

What  is  the  nature  of  its  energizing 
Force? 

Is  there  an  intelligible  Principle 
behind  it  all? 

What  is  the  nature  of  the  Principle? 

Whither  is  the  World-wide  Move- 
ment  tending? 

In  "Technocracy"  I  have  clarified 
my  own  thoughts;  and  if,  incidentally, 
I  have  done  a  like  service  for  others, 
and  thrown  some  light  upon  these 
momentous  questions,  my  purpose 
has  been   accomplished. 

"I  thank  vou." 


Fernwald.    Berkelev,    Calif. 
June  8,   1921. 


SHOULD  ANIMAL  PARASITISM  OR  HUMAN  PERSONALITY 

BE  THE  GOAL  OF  OUR  SOCIAL  STRIVINGS 

OUR    NATIONAL    OBJECTIVE? 


Social  Universals 

THE   INDIVIDUAL. 

The  main  •function  of  society  is  to  oppose  its 
combined  effectiveness  to  every  natural  and 
artificial  condition  which  tends  to  hamper  the 
freedom  of  the  individual  in  so  far  as  the  acts  of 
the  individual  are  consistent  with  the  community 
objective. 

SUSTENANCE. 

The  products  of  effort  are  the  results  of  life 
energy  expressing  itself  through  an  individual 
upon  his  environment  to  the  end  that  this  in- 
dividual may  and  shall  express  more  individual 
life.  Ownership  of  products,  therefore,  is  as 
essentially  inherent  in  the  producing  individual 
as  are  the  faculties  from  which  the  products  flow ; 
thus  products  are,  in  right  and  in  reason,  in- 
alienable from  the  producing  individual  either  by 
himself  or  by  others — except  for  their  equivalent. 

MUTUALITY. 

Equal  liberty  is  the  natural  right  of  every  per- 
son to  the  end  that  purposefulness  may  be  ex- 
pressed and  function  freely,  limited  only  by  per- 
fect mutuality. 

INCREASE. 

The  women  are  the  natural  wards  of  the  com- 
munity, for  its  life  and  well-being  are  inseparable 
from  theirs.  By  right  of  her  womanhood's 
natural  function,  every  woman  is  therefore  en- 
titled to  maintenance  and  protection  as  a  first 
charge  upon  the  community  resources.  Realized 
motherhood  places  the  community  under  obliga- 
tion proportional  to  the  benefit  accruing  to  it.  In 
this  benefit  the  mother  is,  in  equity,  entitled  to 
participate  directly. 


FAMILY.       . 

As  the  social  and  the  true  political  unit,  the 
family  (as  a  unified  group)  is  entitled  effectively 
to  voice  its  unified  objectives,  and  to  be  repre- 
sented in  the  conduct  of  all  community  affairs. 
(Male-  and  female-suffrage  tends  to  engender  sex 
antagonism.)  Society  starts  with  the  union  of 
the  sexes;  social  functioning  should  start  there 
also:  family  suffrage — one  family,  one  vote. 

PROGRESS. 

The  community's  most  valuable  and  vital  asset 
are  the  children,  therefore  self-preservation  makes 
it  imperative  that  the  highest  intelligence  and 
unremitting  effort  be  expended  upon  their  prep- 
aration for  carrying  forward  the  national  ob- 
jective. 

OPPORTUNITY. 
Every  individual  is  entitled  to  equal  oppor- 
tunity (i.  e.  without  social  or  economic  handicap), 
to  the  end  that  self-expression  may  have  fullest 
scope  and  the  individual  thus  be  enabled  to  reach 
his  highest  effectiveness  for  self-realization  and 
for  the  welfare  of  the  community. 

PROSPERITY. 

Nature's  resources  are  its  gifts  to  all;  they 
are  man's  inalienable  environment;  they  are  his 
common  heritage  and  his  common   birthright. 

INHERITANCE. 

As  it  is  only  by  and  through  the  organization 
of  the  community  that  the  individual  can  socially 
function,  it  is  inherently  right  and  reasonable 
that  the  surplus  product  of  that  functioning 
should  accrue  to  the  community  at  his  death. 


Social  Wants 


A  PRACTICAL  PROGRAM 

I  SELF-OWNERSHIP— "I     will"     instead     of 

"You  must." 

II  PERSONALITY  instead  of  Parasitism. 

III  KNOWLEDGE  of  Nature's   Laws  instead  of 

Belief   in    Magic. 

[V      FREEDOM    of    Opportunity    instead    of    the 
Serfdom    of    Necessity. 

V  NATIONAL    BOOK-KEEPING    instead    of 

Money    Monopoly. 

VI  COSTLESS  MONEY  instead  of  Commodity 

Money — National    Check    Medium    of    Ex- 
change. 

VII  NATIONAL   HONESTY  instead   of  Privat- 

ely "Manufactured  Credit." 

VIII  REWARDS    for    Making    instead    of    Legal- 

ized  Taking. 

IX  INSURANCE  at  Cost  for  all,  by  all,  instead 

of  Exploiting  for  "Profit"  the  Mishaps  of 
the    Unfortunate. 

X  NATIONAL  PURPOSE. 


Working  Explosively 

A  Protest  Against  Mechanistic  Efficiency 
By  William  Henry  Smyth 

(Reprinted  from  Industrial  Management,  January,  1917.) 


We  all  know  the  Explosive  Worker 
type  and  generally  recognize  him  with 
disapproval. 

The  trouble  with  working  explo- 
sively is  that  the  individual  addicted  to 
this  character  of  activity  won't  fit  into 
any  decently  organized  scheme  of  pro- 
duction. He's  a  sort  of  human  bomb- 
shell— lacking  a  timer.  So  he  "goes 
off"  at  any  old  time,  day  or  night — 
always  unexpectedly — with  the  utmost 
disregard  to  sensitive  nerves  and  es- 
tablished conventions. 

In  the  family  he's  the  juvenile 
"problem";  in  school,  the  hopeless  im- 
possible! and  in  the  shop,  the  idlest 
of  idle  apprentices  (with  a  big  ?).  In 
the  factory,  he's  the  man  one  is  always 
going  to  discharge, — but  .  .  .  Or 
he's  our  Boss,  who  is  "a  Holy  Ter- 
ror." 

Working  Explosively. 

There  arc  but  two  places  for  the 
Explosive  Worker  to  land — at  the  top 
or  at  the  bottom.  And,  characteris- 
tically he's  rapid  in  getting  there. 
Still  worse,  when  true  to  type,  he  is 
disconcertingly  apt  to  reverse  his  lo- 
cation from  time  to  time,  whether  top 
or  bottom,  with  the  speed  of  a  light- 
ning change  artist. 

The  Efficiency  Expert  has  no  place 
for  the  Explosive  Worker — except  in 
his  vocabulary  of  dynamic  expletives 
and  fulminative   epithets. 

Of  course,  all  this  refers  to  the  typ- 
ical Exploder;  but,  curiously  enough, 
each  one  of  us  at  times  looks  back 
with  self-hugging  secret  joy  to  occa- 
sions and  experiences  of  working  ex- 
plosively in  our  own  otherwise  hum- 
drum career.  And,  reflecting,  realizes 
with  some  surprise  that  these  stand 
luminously  out  as  our  really  worth 
while  adventures — life's  decisive  bat- 
tles. 

Such  reminiscences,  and  the  feelings 
evoked,  jolt  one  into  thinking — to 
wondering.     .     .     . 


Work  Is  Human. 

There  appears  to  be,  nay,  there 
surely  is,  something  amazingly  hu- 
manly human  about  working  explo- 
sively. We  feel  that  there  is  truly 
something  warm,  vital,  hot-blooded, 
about  this  sort  of  activity  which  is 
lacking  in  the  efficient  routine  of  eight- 
hours-a-day   work   at   so-much  per. 

In  fancy  we  flit  backward  and  aban- 
donedly  re-erupt  our  own  little  ex- 
plosions. .  .  .  Eight  hours! — Pah! 
Twenty-four  is  all  too  short!  Hours! 
Days!  What  are  they  to  the  Explo- 
sive Worker — during  eruption.  Mere 
irrelevant  astronomical  incidents. 

But, — with  a  sigh — returning  to  here 
and  now — from  memory's  fecund 
realm,  where  we  too  forged  vibrant 
dreams  most  strenuously  into  things 
of  beauty,  worth  and  substance,  paint- 
ed with  comets'  tails,  playing  skittles 
with  time  and  space — (Oh  magic  state, 
wherein  all  work  is  play,  and  play 
means  working  explosively!) — there 
still  remains  that  work-a-day  remind- 
er, the  vivid  impression,  potent  intui- 
tion, the  "hunch"  of  discovery,  so  sug- 
gestive of  revelation  in  its  flash-like 
clarity. 

And  this  is  the  "hunch": 

Essence    of   Living. 

Explosive  Working?  Why,  explo- 
sive activity  is  not  "working"  at  all! 
It  is  the  essence  of  living.     Life  itself! 

"Efficient"  working  and  working  ex- 
plosively are  wholly  and  essentially 
different  matters  of  experience. 

"Efficient"  working  expresses  obedi- 
ence to  the  outside  pressure  of  brute 
mechanistic  Nature  in  the  struggle  to 
survive. 

Working  Explosively  is  inner  life 
insistent  of  self-expression,  the  willful 
impulse  of  vital  personality  in  raptur- 
ous culmination,  realizing  life — the  joy 
of  being  expressed  in  doing.  God-like 
spontaneity. 


WORKING    EXPLOSIVELY 


One  means  Compulsion;  the  other 
Freedom. 

Routine  working  is  an  efficient 
means  lo  an  indefinitely  desirable  end. 
Explosive  Working  is  an  end  in  itself, 
regardless  of  outcome.  The  very  joy 
of  working.     Self  realization. 

One  suggests  Force  and  Mechanism; 
the  other,  Life  and  Liberty. 

In  one  we  function,  contract,  and 
serve  a  purpose;  in  the  other  we  live, 
expand,  dominate.  In  one  we  work 
by  necessity  as  more  or  less  efficient 
"elements"  in  a  mighty  but  cold  and 
incomprehensible  machine;  'in  the 
other  I  am  the  living  IT— Earth-God 
of  things,  of  matter,  and  of  motion — 
the  Mechanician. 

Is   Human   Problem. 

This  issue  involves  no  mere  moot 
or  academic  distinction,  about  which 
idle  men  may  split  dialectic  hairs  or 
bandy  fluent  phrases  to  fill  a  vacant 
hour.  Profoundly  is  it  otherwise,  for 
it  touches  closely  on  the  deepest  and 
most  significant  of  all  human  prob- 
lems— the  eternal  paradox  of  freedom. 
At  bottom  it  is  this  question  of  human 
worth  as  against  human  productive  ef- 
ficiency which  is  being  fought  out  in 
the  World-conflict  today — and  not 
alone  in  the  spectacular  European 
tragedy. 

So  much  for  the  "hunch."  And  now 
for   the    questions    which    it    raises. 

These  are  many  tough  conundrums, 
which  I  have  no  intention  of  now  at- 
tempting to  answer. 

Here  is   one,  by  way  of  example: 

Is  the  ultimate  outcome  of  mechan- 
istic efficiency  humanly  desirable?  Is 
the  Art  of  Efficiency  itself  efficientr 

Clearly,  there  is  no  place  in  this 
"Art"  for  "Explosive"  working;  and 
less  than  no  place  for  the  "Exploder." 
Both  are  too  spasmodic,  orgastic,  con- 
vulsive; and  either  would  burst  into  its 
ultimate  primordial  atoms  the  most 
systematic  efficiency  organization  ever 
invented.  Yet,  almost  equally  clear  is 
it,  that  without  both  of  these  joyous 
unruly  factors  there  would  he  no  Art — 
dramatic,  artistic,  nor  even  produc- 
tive— in  which  to  he  efficient,  to  prac- 
tice the  Art  of  Efficiency. 

Often   Overlooked. 

A    real    Art    of      Human      Efficiency 

Fernwald,    Berkeley,    November,    1916. 


must,  of  course,  take  cognizance  of 
the  inherent  characteristics  of  the  hu- 
man elements;  and  the  most  basic 
quality  of  life — certainly  of  life  exem- 
plified in  Man — is  this  very  quality  of 
i  xplosiveness — explosiveness  which  we 
all  so  commonly  overlook  and  insist- 
ently ignore  till  made  to  sit  up  and 
lake  ndtice  by  some  extra-violenr 
eruption  in  our  own  vicinity,  or  in 
one's  own   self. 

Here,  then,  seems  to  be  a  funda- 
mental difficulty:  Efficiency  requires 
control  in  order  to  be  efficient.  But 
human  beings,  to  be  human,  must 
freely  effervesce — uncontrollably  erupt 
— or  contract  to  mere  efficiency  rou- 
tine-output-producing   machines. 

This  raises  the  question  at  once: 
To  what  end  is  the  modern  Art  of 
Efficiency  directed?  What  is  its  con- 
sciously desired  goal? 

Of  course,  we  all  know  the  obvious 
and  seemingly  conclusive  answer:  To 
make  better  men — in  order  to  increase 
their  productiveness. 

This  answer,  it  seems  to  me,  in- 
stead of  being  conclusive,  only  raises 
another  string  of  deeply  vital  ques- 
tions. 

Is  "Efficiency"   Efficient? 

Can  an  Art  of  Efficiency,  dealing 
with  human  elements  incidentally,  but 
with  products  as  its  first  considera- 
tion, conceivably  result  in  other  than 
ultimate  disaster  to  the  incidental 
"elements"? 

Can  the  finished  human  output  of 
our  boasted  Art  become  more  desir- 
ably Human  and  less  machines  than 
the  inefficient  human  raw  materials? 

By  Efficiency's  first  law,  must  not 
the  primary  object  necessarily  divert 
to  itself  all  consideration — de-human- 
ize the  Human  Element  into  highly 
efficient   mechanisms   for  production' 

Is  mechanistic  efficiency  Humanly 
efficient  ? 

Is  the  Art  of  Efficiency,  by  any 
chance,  mis-directed?  Misdirected 
towards  products  as  an  end  in  itself, 
instead  of  towards  the  development  of 
vitally  initiative  human  individuals — 
joyous  workers,  to  whom  product  is 
a  by-product,  wealth  an  incident — 
\1  I  \,  who,  for  the  very  joy  qf  the 
working,   work    explosively? 


Working  Explosively 

Versus 

Working  Efficiently 

By  William  Henry  Smyth 


(Reprinted  from  Industrial 

Between  working  efficiently  and 
working  ineffectively  there  can  be 
no  question  as  to  which  is  the  more 
desirable,  nor  would  I  raise  any  such 
issue. 

"Working  Explosively"  is  not  an 
argument  for  inefficiency,  quite  the 
contrary.  The  article,  as  I  intended 
it,  and  as  I  think  it  indicates  to  the 
thoughtful  reader,  is  merely  a  Stop! 
Look!  Listen!  signal;  a  hand  raised; 
a  suggestion  to  pause — pause  a  mo- 
ment to  consider  whether  we  are 
intelligently  directing  our  efforts 
toward  the  end  for  which  we  seek, 
the  goal  for  which  we  strive,  the 
reward    for    which    we   all    struggle. 

My  own  experience  with  life 
ranges  through  the  whole  gamut, 
from  the  coarsest  forms  of  manual 
labor  up  to  original  constructive 
mental  work,  both  as  employed  and 
employer — at  the  grind  of  "work- 
ing efficiently"  and  the  joy  of^ 
"working  explosively."  I  have  as- 
sociated on  terms  of  equality  with 
hoboes,  with  laborers,  with  mechan- 
ics, and  with  captains  of  industry 
and  finance.  And  far  from  being 
a  socialist,  I  am  individualistic  to  the 
nth  degree.  Thus,  my  Stop!  Look! 
Listen!  warning  is  based  on  facts, 
and  upon  experience,  not  upon  the 
fancies  of  an  overwrought  imagina- 
tion. 

Importance  of  Worker 

Based  upon  this  varied  experience, 
the  question  I  wish  to  raise  involves 
the  relative  importance  of  the  work- 
er, or  his  work — human  worth,  or 
the    products    of   human    toil. 

Efficiency  is  no  new  invention;  it 
is  as  old  as  intelligence  itself.  None 
realize  efficiency  so  completely  as 
the  creative  genius, — our  Darwins, 
Faradays,  Edisons,  and  Fords, — and 
none  so  completely  practice  and  ex- 
emplify working  explosively.  Genius 
itself,  we  are  told,  is  the  capability 
for    taking    infinite    pains. 


Management,  May,  1917.) 

The  Art  of  Efficiency  proposes  to 
substitute  the  short  cut  of  imitating 
efficient  mechanical  tricks  for  the 
toilsome  process  of  becoming  a 
mechanic. 

The  Explosive  Worker  is  a  strenu- 
ous worker  whose  intense  preoccupa- 
tion is  with  accomplishing  perfectly 
that  predetermined  end  in  which  his 
interest  is  centered.  He  works  with 
intelligent  personal  intention  driven 
by  the  explosive  energy  of  his  pur- 
pose. If  he  is  driving  rivets,  he 
is  driving  them  so  that  they  will 
accomplish     the     object     intended. 

Working  Explosively  is  human 
purpose  expressing  itself  through 
inanimate  material;  it  is  not  the 
function  of  an  unhurried  efficient 
human  machine  striking  so  many 
well  directed  blows  in  a  definite 
time. 

Means  Personal   Energy 

Working  Explosively  means  per- 
sonal energy,  strenuously  applied  to 
the  accomplishment  of  a  personally 
desirable  result. 

Working  Explosively  is  not  a 
matter  of  habit,  instinct,  or  routine. 
It  involves  the  concentration  of  all 
the  faculties  upon  the  work  in  hand 
to  the  end  of  producing  the  result 
desired.  It  is  subconscious  impulse 
raised  to  conscious  effort  of  accom- 
plishment. 

The  Efficiency  Expert  joyously 
fills  his  God-like  function  as  he 
shuffles  numbered  human  "hands" 
and  rearranges  his  human  "pegs" 
into  round  or  square  holes,  so  that 
"hands"  and  "pegs"  shall  contribute 
most  efficiently  to  production.  But, 
soulless  pegs  and  automaton  hands 
which  will  passively  stay  put  are 
somewhat  different  factors  from 
Men  and  Women  with  personal  likes 
and  dislikes  and  smouldering  pas- 
sions which  must  explode  either  in 
Work  or  Wrar — hence  industrial  un- 
rest   and    warfare. 


WORKING   EXPLOSIVELY 


The  "Art  of  Efficiency"  is  merely 
a  new  name  for  an  old  and  very 
dangerous  form — or  misdirection — of 
effort. 

The  essential  question  is  not  how 
many  more  billion  dollars  worth 
of  product  can  be  made  or  saved, 
but  how  many  more  million  human 
beings  can  express  themselves  in  the 
direction  of  personal  accomplish- 
ment. And,  in  my  view,  this  latter 
course  is  the  more  logical  and  the 
more  likely  one  to  produce  the  for- 
mer results  indirectly  through  the 
interest  of  the  worker  than  directly 
through  the  efficient  control  of  his 
action. 

Outside  Worker 

"Working  Efficiently"  assumes 
control  outside  of  the  worker,  direct- 
ing his  actions  and  efforts  toward  a 
purpose  in  the  mind  of  the  con- 
troller. 

"Working  Explosively"  assumes 
control  inside  of  the  worker,  di- 
recting his  action  and  energy 
towards    an    interesting    outcome. 

In  a  broad  sense,  one  is  Autocracy 
and  the  other  Democracy.  Imper- 
fectly but  significantly,  Germany 
and  the  United  States  repre- 
sent these  two  opposite  ideals 
of  human  activity.  The  one  repre- 
sents efficient  working,  the  other 
a  crude  and  embryonic  form  of 
working  explosively.  One  makes  for 
mechanistic  efficiency,  the  other  for 
human    liberty.  ' 

Hopefulness  is  a  personal  quality, 
it  cannot  exist  in  connection  with 
work  in  the  outcome  of  which  the 
worker  is  not  interested,  and  Hope- 
fulness is  a  fundamental  factor  in 
working   explosively. 

"Working  Explosively"  and  "Work- 


ing Efficiently"  express  only  imper- 
fectly the  underlying  idea  in  each. 
In  essence,  they  imply  two  opposite 
ideals.  In  the  former,  emphasis  is 
placed  upon  the  worker;  in  the  latter, 
emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  work.  To 
my  way  of  thinking  the  two  points 
of  view  are  essentially  antithetical. 
Of  course,  the  only  way  of  bring- 
ing about  the  welfare  of  human  kind 
is  on  the  basis  of  right  and  justice. 
But,  who  shall  determine  these  mo- 
mentous bases?  You  or  I?  The 
Efficiency  Expert  or  the  "pegs" 
which  he  re-arranges  into  round  or 
square  holes?  The  employer  or  the 
employed? 

Conflict    Exists 

To  close  our  eyes  and  pretend  that 
there  is  no  conflict  between  employer 
and  employed  is  futility  itself.  To 
say  that  the  interest  of  these  is  mu- 
tual when  the  employer  has  all  of 
the  joy  of  working  explosively  and 
the  employed  all  the  grind  of  work- 
ing   efficiently    is    equally    futile. 

I  gird  neither  against  employer 
nor  employed.  My  proposition  is: 
from  the  joy  of  the  work — Working 
Explosively — come  better  men. 
more  worthy  citizens,  and  greater 
•commonweal. 

I  hold  that  a  human  being — human 
personality — is  of  infinitely  more 
consequence  than  the  product  of  the 
hands  and  brain;  that  a  true  ulti- 
mate efficiency  implies  the  liberation 
of  Man  rather  than  the  efficient  con- 
trol of  his  actions;  that  the  ultimate 
well-being  of  all  implies  not  the  in- 
telligent control  of  passively  efficient 
human  elements,  but  the  liberation 
of  men  and  women  to  purposeful 
joy    of    Working     Explosively. 


Femwald,    Berkeley,    March,    1917. 


IS    THE    EFFICIENT  CONTROL  OF   MEN 

MORE  DESIRABLE  THAN 

FREEDOM? 


TECHNOCRACY 
IMPLIES     SCIENTIFIC     REORGANIZATION 
OF   NATIONAL  ENERGY  AND  RESOURCES 
COORDINATING  INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY 
TO   EFFECT  THE  WILL  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

SHOULD   THE   SELFISH   CUNNING   OF   FINANCE   OR 

UNSELFISH     SCIENCE     AND     TECHNOLOGY 

MANAGE   INDUSTRIAL    DEMOCRACY? 


**»u>. 


% 


JUN161970 


AN  AIMLESS  MAN  AND  A 
PURPOSELESS  NATION  ARE 
EQUALLY  FUTILE  FRAGMENTS 
OF  RAW  MATERIAL  IN  THE 
EVER  GRINDING  MILL  OF 
NATURAL  EVOLUTIONARY  AND 
DEVOLUTIONARY  PROCESSES: 
LACKING  NATIONAL  PURPOSE 
WHAT    GOAL    HAS    PATRIOTISM 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRARY 


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1 '°o  U0629   1990 


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1 1      J£    '  • 


